Four months after the Mayor of Yuma, Arizona declared a state of emergency, state lawmakers may cast a final vote on legislation calling for enhanced funding to fill in border wall gaps.
Mayor Douglas Nicholls in December said he was declaring the local emergency due to the number of migrants crossing the border at Yuma, which local officials pegged at around 6,000 people a day.
At the time of the Mayor’s announcement, his office released a statement noting: “Migrants are passing on foot through active agricultural fields.”
The statement, in part, continued: “The encroachment on active production fields results in food safety concerns and the destruction of crops.”
Nicholls specifically asked for both federal and state funding to fill in some 52 wall gaps of varying sizes, equal to around seven miles.
Local officials have since expressed additionally concerns about a new rise in migrant crossings at Yuma once a public health rule called Title 42 expires on May 23.
That rule, originally enacted as part of the Public Health Service Act of 1944, has made it possible to turn away any migrant without an asylum case hearing.
In February members of the Arizona State Senate voted to allocate some $700 million in state funds for the maintenance and closing of any gaps in the border fencing. The House of Representatives, at the same time, approved a significantly smaller $150 million for the same effort.
A final vote on the matter has not yet been taken, with the legislature set to wrap up its session on April 23.
By Garry Boulard
