The Department of Homeland Security said they will be building one portion of the border wall system that was being built under the Trump administration in the Yuma Sector as the crisis at the U.S.-Mexico border remains a big problem for the Biden administration.
A gap was created by the Morelos Dam after President Joe Biden ordered a halt on border wall construction. This gap by the dam has since become a very popular crossing spot for illegal immigrants since the water level in the Colorado River is also low in that area.
A group of around 30 people crossed into Yuma at another gap in the border wall in Yuma. pic.twitter.com/KEyRR6j7hi
— Julio Rosas (@Julio_Rosas11) October 6, 2021
The Associated Press reported Senator Mark Kelly (D-AZ), who is up for election this year, has been pressing the Biden administration to finish the remaining sections in the Yuma Sector, as it is the third busiest area along the entire southern border for illegal immigrant crossings.
Arizona environmentalist Myles Traphagen told the AP finishing sections of the border wall will not stop crossing because Yuma has "become the new Ellis Island for Arizona, with people arriving there from countries as disparate as Ethiopia, Cuba, Russia, Ukraine, India, Colombia and Nicaragua. People have traveled half way around the globe on planes, trains and automobiles. So to expect that closing four small gaps is going to make them turn around and book a return flight on Air Ethiopia is sheer fallacy."
Should the DHS complete the unfinished sections of the border wall in the Yuma Sector, there is still an issue of the Cocopah Reservation, whose land goes along the southern border. The Cocopah Reservation does not want the Trump-style wall along their land, opting for the normandy barriers that stop vehicle traffic but does nothing to stop foot traffic. The area where the Trump wall ends and the Cocopah Reservation begins, south of the dam, has also been a popular spot for illegal immigrants to cross into the United States.
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