PHOENIX — Governor Doug Ducey is sending the National Guard to the Arizona border near Yuma.
It is in response to an overwhelming number of migrants flooding the area, hoping to get into the country before the U.S. begins enforcing the Remain in Mexico policy.
“We asked them to bring back Title 40, which is the Remain in Mexico policy. They’ve announced it but they’re putting it forward piecemeal so what you have is the drug cartels taking full advantage of these people in the rush to get them over the border,” Governor Ducey said.
According to Yuma County officials, more than 5,000 people have illegally entered the country west of the San Luis Port of Entry station.
For some, it's been a difficult journey.
On Monday, three women went into labor after being picked up by the U.S. Border Patrol.
There are so many migrants arriving it can take the Border Patrol hours, if not days before they can take them into custody to begin processing them.
“I placed a call into Border Patrol but they have been 100% overwhelmed with the people coming across the border,” Yuma County Supervisor Jonathan Lines said.
On Tuesday, Governor Ducey went to Yuma. He received a briefing along a stretch of the border wall just a few yards away from migrants who were entering the country illegally.
“Joe Biden’s open border policy. The border is wide open and it’s unprotected,” Ducey said.
The governor’s criticism of the Biden administration’s handling of the Remain in Mexico Policy is not limited to partisan governors.
Lawyers for the Florence Immigrant and Refugee Project, which handles immigration cases, raised concerns in the days leading up to its reinstatement.
“They are not putting forth any tangible plans to address the inadequacies and fundamentally they cannot control what happens on the ground in Mexico,” said Chelsea Sachau of the Florence Project.
While the governor was in Yuma, he announced 24 members of the National Guard — along with a helicopter and ten vehicles — will go to the border to assist the Department of Public Safety in patrolling areas where the Border Patrol believes the most threatening incursions are happening.
