The White House is completing more of former President Donald Trump’s border wall and the Department of Homeland Security is closing four gaps in the barrier near Yuma, Ariz. great immigrant street.
DHS Secretary Alejandro Majorcas authorized Customs and Border Protection Thursday to close openings near the Morelos Dam, just west of downtown Yuma.
The department said the area “presents safety and life-threatening risks to immigrants attempting to cross into the United States, where there is a risk of injury from drowning and falls. The area also poses a life and safety risk to first responders and emergency responders in the area. ”
The dam is located on a portion of the border that runs north-south along the Colorado River before turning east-west on the California-Arizona state line.
Border officials have reported 235,230 migrant encounters in the Yuma Sector of the Border Patrol since October. Last year’s 1. Only the Del Rio (326,177) and Rio Grande Valley (377,194) sectors reported more encounters during the same period.
President Biden ordered the construction of the border wall to be stopped Shortly after taking office in January 2021. While the move has been lauded by liberal activists, it has punched holes in the barrier, which critics say, including Biden’s Democratic friends, are exploited by individual immigrants and smugglers who smuggle people across the border.
Dream. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) praised DHS on Thursday for filling the openings.
“For too long the Morelos Dam site has been an operational challenge for Border Patrol agents to properly secure the border and keep our communities safe,” Kelly said in a statement. Said.
“I’m glad the Department of Homeland Security is listening to Arizona and closing those gaps,” Kelly said. “This is a step forward and I will continue to work to ensure that Arizona has the necessary tools for a safe and orderly process at the border.
Republican Yuma Mayor Doug Nicholls also welcomed the move, calling it “an important first step in containing this border crisis, supporting our law enforcement and keeping border communities safe.”
The project will be funded by DHS’ fiscal 2021 appropriations approved during the Trump administration.
Earlier this month, the department approved similar boundary wall construction Replacing a “broken barrier” located near the cross-border Friendship Park in Imperial Beach, Calif.
In December of last year, Majorca approves financing Closing unfinished construction gaps that will “address living, safety, environmental and remediation requirements for border barrier projects” in California, Arizona and Texas.
The move to close the gaps in Yuma comes as follows: record number of immigrants He tried to cross to the USA.
June marked the fourth consecutive month that border officials faced more than 200,000 (207,416) migrants. It also brought the total number of stops recorded since October. 1 to 1,746,119 – Highest in any fiscal year since 1960.
