Migrants skirt border fortifications, cross largely unimpeded at the Colorado River

Rafael Carranza, Arizona Republic
Published 9:03 p.m. MT Dec. 11, 2018

Agents in Yuma said the fortification of the border near the San Luis crossing is pushing migrant families to an open stretch near the Colorado River. Rafael Carranza, The Republic | azcentral.com


(Photo: Nick Oza/The Republic)

YUMA – Large numbers of migrants, mostly families from Guatemala, are illegally crossing the U.S.-Mexico border along the emaciated Colorado River, nearly unimpeded.

That section of the border hasn't been touched by the ongoing fortification of the port of entry at San Luis, Arizona, about a dozen miles to the south.


There, troops have installed barbed wire, and customs officers have conducted exercises to turn back any large groups of migrants attempting to illegally enter the United States en masse.


The exercises drew the attention of President Donald Trump, who tweeted last week that Arizona "is bracing for a massive surge at a NON-WALLED area. WE WILL NOT LET THEM THROUGH. Big danger."
Resources strained

In mid-November, Customs and Border Protection announced plans to replace 27 miles of primary pedestrian fencing along the Yuma Sector's border with Mexico. But those plans do not yet include the section of the boundary along the Colorado River where agents are seeing more migrants crossing unimpeded.

Work is slated to begin in April to remove 14 miles of aging, Vietnam War-era landing mat fencing near the San Luis port of entry, the site of many large group crossings. They will be replaced with 30-foot-tall bollards.


But the agency hasn't disclosed the location of the remaining 13 miles slated for replacement.


"We can only hope that this is part of that coverage," Yuma Sector's Special Operations Supervisor Vincent Dulesky said, standing next to the Normandy barriers along the Colorado River.

Dulesky declined to go into details about how the Border Patrol has responded to the surge in migrants crossing through the river, citing operational concerns. But he said the large group crossings throughout the sector are straining resources.


Still, he added there are no immediate plans to add barbed wire or any other fortifications to the Normandy barriers, as they have at other high-traffic areas near the port of entry.


"I don’t see it coming through here short term, not until they build a pedestrian fence," he said.


The monthly apprehensions of asylum-seeking families in Yuma has grown to a new peak in November, despite stepped-up security measures and the presence of active-duty troops. Border agents detained 3,170 family members last month, according to the government's latest statistics.

They also show that, overall, the number of migrants crossing the Yuma border illegally is at levels unseen in over a decade, when the construction of border fencing at that time caused a steep drop in apprehensions.


But as opposed to 10 years ago, families and unaccompanied minors now make up the overwhelming majority of all apprehensions — more than 85 percent so far this fiscal year — in the Yuma Sector, which stretches for 126 miles, from the Yuma County line in the east to the Imperial Sand Dunes to the west.


That reflects a trend nationwide. Despite the presence of active-duty troops and tougher security measures meant to deter them, the number of families crossing the U.S.-Mexico border illegally is at all-time high.


President Donald Trump said that migrants from South America need to enter the country in legal ports of entry to qualify for asylum. Is he correct? William Flannigan, azcentral


https://www.azcentral.com/story/news...er/2239734002/