ARIZONA, USA — The mayor of an Arizona city hit hard by record border crossings welcomes the Biden Administration's deployment of troops to the Southwest border.
But Yuma Mayor Douglas Nicholls said it's still not enough to deal with a looming crisis.
Here's what we know about the deployment and its potential impact on Arizona:
Army, Marines supply troops
The Biden administration will send 1,500 active-duty troops to the U.S.-Mexico border starting next week, ahead of an expected migrant surge following the end May 11 of pandemic-era restrictions under Title 42 rules. An estimated 2 million migrants were automatically expelled under Title 42 rules.
Military personnel will do data entry, warehouse support and other administrative tasks so that US Customs and Border Protection can focus on fieldwork, White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre said Tuesday.
The troops "will not be performing law enforcement functions or interacting with immigrants, or migrants," Jean-Pierre said. "This will free up Border Patrol agents to perform their critical law enforcement duties."
They will be deployed for 90 days, and will be pulled from the Army and Marine Corps, and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin will look to backfill with National Guard or Reserve troops during that period, Pentagon spokesman Air Force Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder said. There are already 2,500 National Guard members at the border.
Yuma mayor: 'I'll take that'
"It's at least an acknowledgment that there's a problem and something different needs to get done. I'll take that," Yuma Mayor Douglas Nicholls said in an interview Tuesday.
"What we've been doing isn't working, and it's causing potential for loss of life, and just pain and hardship."
"But more needs to be done."
Nicholls, a three-term mayor, has seen his community's public and non-profit resources stretched to the max by tens of thousands of border crossers, part of a record number of undocumented immigrants apprehended last year across the Southwest border.
Hobbs silent on border plan
Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs is out of town the rest of the week. She refused to answer questions Monday about whether she has a plan for border communities to help deal with the end of Title 42.
A Hobbs spokesman said she would have more to say about the border next week.
Over the last two years, upwards of 1,000 migrants a day have crossed into the CBP's Yuma sector, roughly the western half of Arizona.
Much of the traffic is through the "Morelos Gap," openings in the Trump-era border fence near a dam on the Colorado River, next to lettuce fields south of Yuma.
Four gaps have been a gateway for border crossers from all over the world.
Cartels that serve as de facto travel agents for migrants on social media have exploited the area, with its proximity to a nearby airport in Mexico and the usually dry crossing over the dam.
DHS is expected to close the gaps by later this summer.
Former Republican Gov. Doug Ducey expressed his frustration with the Biden Administration by spending more than $200 million during his final weeks in office to plug the gaps with empty shipping containers. They've since been removed.
'A lot to be figured out'
Less than 24 hours after the troop deployment was announced, Nicholls had no specifics on where the troops were being deployed. The need stretches the length of the Southwest border.
"There's a lot yet to be figured out on how impactful the Army will be when they arrive," he said.
Nicholls said the troops were desperately needed to pick up groups of hundreds of migrants who are "being pushed" into remote desert areas near border towns east of Yuma.
"It's a very rough road to get in and out," he said. "You can't bring large buses, and it takes about two days ... to move that many people."
What troops can't do
But he said the soldiers' marching orders won't allow them to detain migrants.
That keeps the time-consuming task in the hands of the strapped Border Patrol.
Under federal law, troops at the border are barred from processing migrants, making arrests or firing their weapons.
Nicholls stressed the urgency of the mission with summertime temperatures on the way.
"Arizona is now in the 100-degree range," he said. "When you get plenty of people come across with no resources, that's only a recipe for death. This is a real humanitarian issue."
Past border deployments
The last three US presidents and Arizona governors have either deployed troops at the border or - in the case of Gov. Jan Brewer - goaded a president into doing so.
Biden's predecessor, Republican President Donald Trump, sent more than 5,000 active duty soldiers troops to the border in October 2018. Democrats dismissed it as a political ploy.
In 2010, President Barack Obama sent 1,200 troops, 500 of them in Arizona. President George W. Bush stationed 6,000 National Guard members at the border from 2006 thru 2008, 2,400 of them in Arizona.
Under Ducey, Arizona National Guard members were stationed at the border in support roles during four of his eight years in office.
About 550 Arizona Guard members served on the border, in roles such as administrative assistants, maintenance support and camera operators, according to the Guard's communications director, Capt. Erin C. Hannigan. They did not serve in any law enforcement capacity.
"We are not new to border activations, having responded to various missions since 2008 and will be prepared to respond when called upon to serve our communities, state and nation," Hannigan said.
Sinema, Kelly respond
Arizona's two U.S. senators - independent Kyrsten Sinema and Democrat Mark Kelly - have been in close contact with Yuma County officials.
Sinema said the Biden Administration "must do more" than a troop deployment.
"For over a year, I've urged the administration to plan and act on the impending migrant surge once Title 42 ends," Sinema said in a prepared statement.
"Mobilizing active duty personnel to our Southern Border will provide some relief to the serious strain Arizona border communities face every day. The Administration must do more to enact a real, workable plan to secure our border, keep Arizonans safe and secure, and ensure migrants are treated fairly and humanely."
Kelly said in a statement he was "glad to see the Biden Administration sending this additional manpower":
"Border Patrol agents have a hard job made even more challenging by this border crisis. I'm glad to see the Biden Administration sending this additional manpower that can provide our Border Patrol agents and Arizona communities with critical assistance. I look forward to being fully briefed on the details of this mission and will keep working with Arizona border leaders, Border Patrol, and the Administration to ensure an orderly, secure, and humane response that does not burden our border communities."
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