Yuma families forced to hire armed guards amid migrant surge, city official says
A Yuma county supervisor shared his town's battle to accommodate the influx of migrants amid caring for residents as border crossings increase in Arizona.
YUMA, Ariz. – Illegal immigrants have flooded Yuma hospitals and have caused some residents fearing their safety to hire armed security, a Yuma city official told Fox News.
"Two of these families down here actually had to hire private security guards — armed security guards — to keep people out of their yards," a Yuma county supervisor, Jonathan Lines, told Fox News. "They were constantly having people come into their homes, into their yards, and they were not very respectful."
Nearly 1 million of the 4 million migrants who have crossed into the U.S. since President Biden took office traveled through Arizona's southern border, according to Customs and Border Protection. Border Patrol's Yuma sector saw a 171% increase in migrant crossings between 2021 and 2022.
WATCH A YUMA OFFICIAL EXPLAIN HOW THE BORDER CRISIS HAS STRAINED HIS COMMUNITY:
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Thousands of migrants crossed residential properties and farmland in Yuma, Lines told Fox News. He said they created safety concerns, strained resources and hurt crops in the agriculture-heavy city.
"We had people showing up to our … non-governmental organizations, the food bank, the mission asking for assistance," Lines said. "We had people showing up directly to the churches looking for assistance."
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Yuma county Supervisor Jonathan Lines says thousands of migrants cross into his city weekly. (Megan Myers/Fox News)
Some residents couldn't receive medical assistance as migrants crowded the local hospital, Lines said.
"I've received calls from people saying, ‘hey, I had to take my wife to San Diego to deliver a baby,’" Lines told Fox News. "'I had to take my wife to Phoenix to deliver the baby because there were no more beds at this hospital.'"
Yuma, an agricultural community, faced threats to their food production as migrants damaged crops while crossing through farmland along the southern border.
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"National security also relates to our food security," Lines said, noting that Americans rely on Yuma's leafy green production.
"We need to give the men and women who put on the uniform every day for national security the tools that they need, both additional manpower and technology so that they can do their job and keep us safe," Lines said.
To hear more from Lines about the strain the border crisis has had on the Yuma community, click here.
