YUMA, Ariz.—Yuma Mayor Douglas Nicholls said that border crossings near his city have continued to decline since President Trump declared a national emergency at the southern border on Jan. 20.
“For the last four days—very specifically in the last four days—we haven’t had any transfers from the San Diego or Tucson sector, which had been happening daily or near daily for the last several months,” Nicholls told The Epoch Times on Jan. 24.
“There’s some definite changes along the flow of traffic, at least in the Yuma sector.”
Nicholls said some illegal immigrants have chosen to “self-deport” rather than be put through the federal immigration system.
“Quite a few of them are actually being repatriated to their home countries,” he said, “which is why you’re seeing the reduction in numbers, because people don’t want to make the investment just to be sent back home.”
Nicholls said that the official stance is that most border crossings are related to human smuggling and trafficking, with considerable involvement from Mexico’s drug cartels.
Illegal immigrants pay cartels and smuggling organizations to cross the U.S.—Mexico border; it can cost anywhere from $4,000 to $40,000 depending on the nationality of the border crosser and the destination city. Many illegal immigrants enter the United States in debt to cartels, and spend years in indentured servitude to pay it off.
Trump took multiple border-related executive actions on Jan. 20 after being sworn in, including to kick-start the deportation of criminals and other illegal immigrants.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents quickly began detaining and deporting many known criminal illegal immigrants in major metropolitan areas, including Chicago and Denver.
Nicholls said he supports the plan to deport known criminals. “I don’t know anybody who’s in favor of keeping them here. So I don’t think that that’s really caused any sort of controversy,” he said.
Cost to Local Industries
Nicholls also noted that Yuma’s health care and agricultural sectors have faced financial challenges due to illegal border crossings. One local hospital has incurred an estimated $26 million in costs for illegal immigrant care, which has yet to be reimbursed.“From a city perspective, we’ve done a pretty good job of isolating costs and not really impacting our budget,” Nicholls said.
“As a community, because of the great work of our Border Patrol and local nonprofits, we’ve only had a couple days in the last four years where migrants were released out in large numbers to the community. We’ve been able to help mitigate those impacts without dramatic costs.”
However, Nicholls said that farming operations along the border in Yuma have suffered a blow with all the illegal border crossings in recent years.
Border Patrol agents in fiscal year 2022 apprehended more than 25,000 illegal immigrants in the Yuma sector, the vast majority of whom crossed the border in an area right next to lettuce farms.
The mayor’s proclamation has been in effect since that time.
“The surge in illegal immigration has had a devastating effect on this critical industry in Arizona,” Lines told the subcommittee.
“The people crossing illegally travel on foot and urinate and defecate in fields and irrigation canals of the farms after they cross the border, which ruins whatever crop is growing on that particular farm.
“Farmers must abide by stringent food safety rules and this trespass and defecating in production areas renders the crops grown completely unmarketable, thus the crop is destroyed, and farmers must bear this staggering loss.
“As a result, farmers in Yuma have had to invest millions since [the Biden administration] took office in crop loss, to hire security and build fences around their farms to protect our nation’s food supply,” Lines testified.
Nicholls said that the window for lettuce from farm to market is very narrow, and consistency is essential because of the short shelf life of produce.
“You need people there when you need people there,” he said. “The 50,000 [migrant] workforce that’s required for winter harvest here is really focused on legal, consistent labor.”
Nicholls said that over the past four years, most illegal immigrants crossing into the Yuma area have wanted to be apprehended by Border Patrol. By doing so, they aimed to enter the system and obtain “some sort of status,” he said.
Nicholls said that city officials have not received any official information regarding troop deployments in the Yuma sector.
Border Town Issues Order
Three hundred and fifty miles east of Yuma lies another border town: Douglas, Arizona, with a population of about 15,600.“With the closing of the southern border, the city of Douglas will see a decrease in revenue sources from sales taxes, tourism, and other areas of commerce,” the proclamation states.
The proclamation didn’t mention that the Douglas Port of Entry remains open 24 hours a day, seven days a week for legal entry into the United States for commercial traffic, non-commercial traffic, and pedestrians.
The statement suggests that the city will experience an increase in costs to assist federal agencies in implementing the president’s executive order.
The proclamation states that although there is currently “no immediate invasion of narcotics and crime within the City of Douglas, I find it necessary and prudent to prepare for the influx of military personnel to the southern border, to take every lawful precaution available in order to protect the health, safety, and welfare of of Douglas’s citizens.”
The city pledges to cooperate with county, state, and federal officials to “protect our borders from illegal entry while protecting our economy.”
New State Law
Communities are also preparing for the effects of Arizona’s Proposition 314, which was approved by 65 percent of voters in the November election.This measure makes it a state crime for noncitizens to enter Arizona from any location other than a port of entry, which allows state and local police to make arrests.
The measure also allows Arizona state judges to order deportations.
State agencies must check an individual’s immigration status via the E-Verify program before allowing enrollment in financial aid programs or public welfare. It’s a crime to submit false information to evade the E-Verify program.
Under the proposition, it’s a Class 2 felony if a person knowingly sells fentanyl and it results in the death of another person.
Remote Desert Town
In the desert town of Ajo, Arizona, located 43 miles from the state’s 372-mile-long southern border with Mexico, life tends to move at a slower step.However, resident Charlie Wolfe believes it is only a matter of time before the impact of the new administration’s border policies become apparent.
“Things happen really slow around here,” said Wolfe, enjoying lunch at a local cantina. “There might be some increased [illegal immigrant] traffic headed south. It’s a big border.”
He thinks there are going to be “mass protests” over Trump’s deportation plans.
“The churches are already lining up. It’s going to slow him down whether he wants it or not,” Wolfe said.
The busy Lukeville commercial port of entry, located 40 miles south of Ajo, was temporarily closed by Customs and Border Protection (CBP) in December 2023 due to an increase in illegal crossings. The closure allowed CBP agents to assist the Border Patrol in processing illegal immigrants entering the Tucson sector, which was experiencing more than 2,000 border crossings each day.
The month-long closure significantly affected travel and tourism in Ajo, Wolfe told The Epoch Times..
The remains of a makeshift processing station stand about a mile from the Lukeville port of entry, with military-style tents empty and flapping in the desert wind. Nearby are a row of portable toilets.
In December 2023, the station was bustling with CBP agents who were processing hundreds of newly-arrived illegal immigrants and transporting them to welcome centers and departure points in Tucson and Phoenix.
At the end of January this year, border traffic flowed smoothly in both directions at the Lukeville port of entry—one of six in Arizona. Some travelers were busy filling their cars with gasoline at the nearby convenience store.
Local resident Miguel said that appearances can be misleading.
Shelter Closings
In Tucson, Pima County Administrator Jan Lesher announced the closure of shelter operations at county respite centers for “legally processed asylum seekers” in a letter to the Board of Supervisors.“While official information from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has been sparse this week, all indications are that this is the new normal—no further street releases in border communities of people seeking asylum in the United States.”
Lesher stated that by Jan. 26, no legally processed asylum seekers will receive temporary services at the Ajo Road or Drexel Road Respite Centers.
“This puts the county in a very precarious position,” Lesher wrote. “Whether there are people under shelter or not, the county still incurs operational costs from its contractors for staffing readiness, shelter amenity rentals, heating and cooling costs, and more.”
Lesher said that the county has provided temporary shelter and services for illegal immigrants since 2019 and has received nearly $118 million in federal funding reimbursements.
These funds have been used to offer temporary shelter to more than 518,000 illegal immigrants released by the DHS into Pima, Santa Cruz, and Cochise counties.
The center in Tucson had expanded its mission to assist illegal immigrants seeking asylum in 2019. Since then, it has served more than 400,000 people.
“The closure of Casa Alitas does not diminish the profound impact it has had on the lives of thousands of asylum seekers, thanks to the dedication of our staff, volunteers, and supporters,” CCS said on social media.
“As we navigate this transition, we are working closely with local officials to ensure that all parties affected by this change are supported.”
Since Jan. 20, several Arizona school districts expressed opposition to ICE enforcement efforts after Trump reversed the 2021 guidelines that prevented federal immigration arrests near schools, churches, and other “sensitive locations.”
Legal Challenges
In her State of the State address on Jan. 13, Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs promised to make border security a “top priority.”
“At my direction, the Arizona National Guard is at our border to support U.S. Customs and Border Protection and stop the flow of dangerous drugs into our state,” Hobbs said.
“When I visited the Port of Nogales in November, I saw the critical work that these men and women are doing to protect us.
“We must remain vigilant in protecting Arizonans from the cartels who seek to do us harm. The fentanyl crisis is one of the greatest threats to public safety in our state’s history and requires a collaborative approach across state, local, and federal governments.
Since July 2024, the Arizona National Guard and CBP have seized more than 8 million fentanyl pills and more than 2,000 pounds of methamphetamines, cocaine, heroin, and fentanyl powder, Hobbs said.
In 2024, the Arizona Department of Public Safety seized 2,645 pounds of fentanyl, which is valued at approximately $35.5 million.
