Migrant crossings still at historic highs in Yuma
Yuma's sector chief says an average of 750 migrants crossed every day in November
YUMA, Ariz. (KECY, KYMA) - The Yuma border remains busy as a group of close to 50 waited patiently for border patrol agents on Thursday morning.
Apprehensions remain historically high as according to Customs and Border Protection (CBP) over 25,000 migrants crossed into Yuma in October.
A 15% increase compared to last year.
And while November numbers are not yet official, snapshots posted to Twitter by Yuma Sector Chief Chris Clem show an average of over 750 crossings every day.
Oberlin Garcia Suarez from Cuba is one of the first to cross in December, saying he left home due to an oppressive government.
“In our country there is a dictatorship, they put us in jail if we think against them," Garcia Suarez said.
He adds the journey to get to this point in America was not easy.
“We had to travel through countries we did not know, and had never been to before,” Garcia Suarez said.
It’s a journey that still isn’t finished as shortly after our interview he is apprehended by local agents.
Garcia Suarez hopes to get to El Paso, Texas, but has to make his asylum claim first.
He’s loaded into the border patrol van and then driven off to Yuma CBP headquarters.
A process Border Patrol will take thousands more through this month.
