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Arizona border communities face a humanitarian disaster in twoweeks if the federal government does not step in to help with the crushof migrants expected when Title 42 ends, local officials told a Senatepanel Wednesday.

Mayors from Yuma and Sierra Vista along with Pima Countys chiefmedical officer all testified that their systems are already strainingunder what have been historically high numbers of immigrants crossingthe border. They told a Senate Homeland Security subcommittee that theydo not have the staff or equipment to handle any more.

NGOs (nongovernmental organizations) spend more than $700,000 anduse 93,000 pounds of food and clothing, Yuma Mayor Douglas Nichollssaid in his testimony. Yuma Regional Medical Center treated 1,300patients at a cost of $810,000, with only one-third of that cost beingreimbursed by the federal government.

The hearing by the Subcommittee on Government Operations and Border Management came just two weeks before the scheduled May 11 end of Title 42,a public health safeguard invoked during the COVID-19 pandemic. Underthat regulation, border officials for the past two years have been ableto turn back many migrants on public health grounds.

Nicholls cited reports that as many as 660,000 people are waiting across the border for the end of Title 42.

Border communities said they are already overwhelmed: Customs and Border protection reported 191,899 encounters with migrants along the southwest border in March, a jump of more than 35,000 from February.

If the federal government does not step in to help, Arizonas bordertowns are bound to face a humanitarian disaster in coming months, saidDr. Francisco Garca, Pima Countys deputy county administrator andchief medical officer.

Sierra Vista Mayor Clea McCaa II said that cartels have disturbed thequiet, safe lifestyle of his town by recruiting U.S. teenagers topick up migrants on this side of the border and smuggle them north. Theresulting high-speed chases have led to an increase in car collisionsand deaths, McCaa said.

Even with Title 42 in place, McCaa said Sierra Vistas small policeforce has to deal with about four to five high-speed load car pursuitsa day. He said one of those crashes happened 200 yards from hismothers house, making him fearful for both his loved ones andconstituents.

I want to stop worrying about if my daughter gets back home fromvolleyball practice. I want to stop worrying about if my mother getsback home from Bible study, McCaa said to Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, I-Ariz.,and chair of the subcommittee,

Thats what keeps me up at night, thats what thats what I worryabout, he said. When is the next citizen thats going to be afatality because of these load-car drivers?

Nicholls, who has declared a state of emergency several times inresponse to the number of migrants, said much of Yumas transportation,food, shelter and medical care goes toward caring for them. He said heworries what might happen if the resources are not in place to handle asurge.

You would end up with releases to the streets of Yuma, up to 1,000people a day, Nicholls said. With only a handful of buses leaving townin a day, he worries that some could end up trying to walk to their nextdestinations as we enter the 120-degree temperature ranges.

Yuma is not adjacent to much, so youre not going to be able to justwalk to the next town, he said. Were 180 miles away from the Phoenixmetro area, about 150 miles away from the San Diego area.

Garca said he faces similar challenges, as Pima County has beenheavily involved in assisting the sheltering, feeding, medicalscreening of incoming migrants for the past four years.

It is the massive and unrelenting flow and volume of asylum seekersthat is the most taxing and that is the biggest challenge for us,Garca said. For city and county staff, for humanitarian staff andvolunteers, it is unrelenting and exhausting.

All three Arizona witnesses said that much of the problem comes downto the federal governments failure to provide consistent funding andcommunication to local communities. But Garcia said sending money is notthe only thing Washington needs to do.

We need comprehensive federal immigration reform that addresses someof those push factors that are pushing people from their countries,Garca said. Thats not something that we as locals will be ever ableto solve. That is something that is in the province of this Congress andthe executive.

Nicholls said U.S. and local officials need to learn from earlierborder surges and pre-position some of those resources so they areready to respond. And they need to work together.

Its not just a Yuma problem or a city problem. This impacts us as astate and as a country, Nicholls said after the hearing. It reallyshouldnt be a partisan issue.

This is about humanitarian concerns, and its about border security,and those elements should be in everyones benefit, to everyonesinterest, he said.

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Border towns see 'disaster' without federal help as end to Title 42 ... - TucsonSentinel.com