Mayor of Yuma Douglas Nicholls (@MayorNicholls) signed a Proclamation of Emergency in Yuma on Apr. 16, due to the high number of migrant family releases by USBP overwhelming the non-profit shelter system. View a video with his comments here: https://t.co/busj2rpP2Z pic.twitter.com/xNnQEsycKb
— City of Yuma (@cityofyuma) April 17, 2019
On Wednesday, Mayor Douglas Nicholls signed a Proclamation of Emergency in Yuma, due to the high number of migrant family releases by U.S. Border Patrol which is overwhelming the non-profit shelter system.
Mayor Nicholls told reporters, “This is a day we had talked about three weeks ago, hopefully that we would never get to, but we are at the point with the migrant releases into Yuma that we have to declare an emergency.”
“By signing this declaration,” explained Mayor Nicholls, “we’re looking to do a couple of things. Not just locally, but throughout the country. It is clear that we are in a position that needs to be rectified on a national level, not just with the resources of our Yuma community, and to try to avert a threat of hundreds of people roaming the streets looking to satisfy basic human needs in our community and not having the resources to do so, and the reaction of the citizens of Yuma looking to protect their property.”
In late March, Arizona State Representative Tim Dunn, from the Yuma area, criticized the federal government’s decision to release migrants into border communities when their holding facilities were at capacity and called for Arizona Governor Doug Ducey to declare an emergency.
Governor Ducey has largely ignored the crisis, but did say earlier this week that he supported President Trump’s comments about placing the migrants in sanctuary cities.
Yuma is hardest hit of the Arizona cities being overwhelmed by the migrants. However, shelters in Phoenix, and Tucson are struggling to provide care for the hundreds of migrants arriving daily.
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Border Patrol agents are scrambling as well due to the rapidly increasing rate of arrivals.
Earlier on Wednesday, Border patrol agents encountered massive numbers of illegal border crossers in the area of Lukeville.
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