Senators Sinema and Kelly look to expand Border Patrol

New bill would also raise agent pay

YUMA, Ariz. (KECY, KYMA) - U.S. Senators Mark Kelly and Kyrsten Sinema from Arizona are introducing legislation to expand border patrol.

The bill looks to create a 2,500 agent reserve force, beefing up border patrol to over 20,000 agents, and also bumping pay up by 14 percent.

The legislation has support from republican senators from Oklahoma and Ohio.

In December of 2021, over 100 border patrol agents were repositioned to the Yuma Sector as record numbers of migrants crossed through.

Those high numbers have continued throughout this year.

As agents have now reported over 200,000 apprehensions in Yuma.

Official July numbers have not been released yet by Customs and Border Protection, but Yuma Sector Chief Chris Clem reported over 20,000 apprehensions last month.