Before a Del Rio, Texas, migrant camp of 15,000 briefly captured national and White House attention, another volcanic rupture point in the southern border fault line was already flaring: this one in Yuma, Ariz.
In a sign that the Department of Homeland Security sees the Yuma Sector as poised to blow even more out of control, agents in other still-beleaguered sectors have been called in to help process an international medley of migrants streaming through this desert wilderness on the California-Arizona state line. Swells of border-crossers have forced the government to establish temporary tent shelters to process many of the illegal migrants into the country.
From October 2020 through August 2021, the most recent U.S. Customs and Border Protection apprehension numbers available, agents encountered 91,841 migrants from mostly Haiti and South America, but also from around the world. In August alone, agents encountered 17,097 migrants, up from 684 that month in 2020, the highest of all nine sectors. That’s a 2,400 percent spike through August 2021 compared to the same time frame in 2020.
Of course, 2020 numbers were at an historic nadir because of pandemic policies that year. But even adjusting for that, the numbers coming in through Yuma on a monthly basis show that something new and very different is afoot.
For context about those 91,841 through August 2021, Yuma Sector accounted for 68,269 in FY 2019; 66,244 in FY 2018; and 11,058 in FY 2017, according to public CBP statistics.
The rate of entry has sharply escalated through the year. For instance, 990 were encountered in November 2020, which quintupled to 5,128 in February and hit more than 17,000 in August.
Another Epic Migrant Drama at the Southern Border, Still Largely Invisible
The data suggests an eruption of fairly epic proportions in the Arizona desert along the Colorado River.
By Todd Bensman
