YUMA, Ariz. — Illegal immigrants have been taking advantage of gaps along the new border wall system that were created after Joe Biden halted all construction shortly after being sworn in as president, and the wall system in the city of Yuma is no exception.
Shortly after arriving at a gap near the Morelos Dam on Wednesday, 11 illegal immigrants, whose nationalities ranged from Venezuelan to Haitian, arrived within an hour of each other. In addition to easy access into the United States with the border wall gaps, the water level in the Colorado River is low enough to walk across, minimizing the risk of drowning. At first, there was no Border Patrol present as it was Yuma police who were first on the scene. It took about another 30 minutes for a Border Patrol agent to arrive.
On the ground in Yuma, AZ. While Border Patrol was processing a family of three who said they were from Venezuela, two adults and one minor walked up to the gap in the border wall.
— Julio Rosas (@Julio_Rosas11) October 6, 2021
Yuma Police officer told me hundreds of immigrants are crossing into Yuma every day. pic.twitter.com/8YnSxYWnIO
Similar to other sectors, the Yuma Sector has seen a dramatic increase in illegal crossings. Unaccompanied children encounters are up 237 percent from fiscal year 2020. Family unit encounters are up 242 percent, and single adult encounters increased to 584 percent.
Standing on the levee, one can easily see drivers on the Mexican side of the border drop people off who then start the descent into the river. Depending on if they have small children, which was common among everyone I saw cross on Wednesday, anyone can make it over the border in about 15 minutes.
Townhall Media/Julio Rosas
Roughly an hour later, a large group of around 30 illegal immigrants turned themselves in to Border Patrol, who mostly appeared to be from Latin America. Three Border Patrol vans had to respond in order to take them away for further processing.
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
A Yuma police officer told me hundreds of illegal immigrants are coming across into the area every day as the gaps by the dam are far from the only ones in the sector. There is concern that Yuma might be the next city that will be hardest hit with a wave of people illegally crossing into the country, similar to Del Rio, Texas, which saw 15,000 mostly Haitians having to stay underneath the international bridge due to massive overcrowding. There are many factors as to where exactly large groups of immigrants show up, so it is hard to pinpoint where they'll cross right up until they start coming over. Only time will tell if Yuma becomes the next Del Rio, and we might find out very soon.