Migrant crisis forces Arizona border town to declare 'state of emergency'

[Right_in_Virginia]

Migrant crisis forces Arizona border town to declare 'state of emergency'
Mayor says that just to test 2 busloads of people each week for a year would cost at least $600,000
Fox Business, Mar 23, 2021

Gila Bend, Arizona, Mayor Chris Riggs says he is declaring a state of emergency due to the ongoing border crisis, blaming the Biden administration for sending migrants to his town by bus.

Riggs, in a First on FOX Business interview, said that his town is not equipped to handle the number of people coming in, especially in the middle of a pandemic.

"Border Patrol let us know that they were going to be dropping migrants that had been detained for 72 hours in our town, which we really didn't understand because we have nothing here," Riggs told FOX Business. "We have no charity organizations that can help, no non-governmental organizations that a lot of the larger cities and towns do have to assist these people."

Riggs went on to say that people are being bussed over to his town without access to food or shelter. He said that his town -- which has a population of just 2,000 -- has not received any federal, state, or local funding to help provide food or housing for migrants, or for coronavirus testing.

The mayor claimed that just to test two busloads of people each week for a year would cost at least $600,000.

In addition to the financial burden on his town, Riggs said that violent crime has gone up recently, while approximately 20 illegal immigrants have arrived on foot nearly every day.


https://www.foxbusiness.com/politics/migrant-crisis-arizona-border-town-to-declare-state-of-emergency?cmpid=FNC_app#

[Right_in_Virginia]

America First (Miss ME Yet?)

[PeteS in CA]

A thread with context, http://www.gopbriefingroom.com/index.php/topic,431708.0.html

[mystery-ak]

Arizona town declares 'state of emergency' over border crisis
By Joseph Choi - 03/24/21 02:31 PM EDT

An Arizona mayor on Tuesday declared a state of emergency over the number of migrants being dropped off in his town by federal authorities.

"Border Patrol let us know that they were going to be dropping migrants that had been detained for 72 hours in our town, which we really didn't understand because we have nothing here," Gila Bend Mayor Chris Riggs told Fox Business. "We have no charity organizations that can help, no non-governmental organizations that a lot of the larger cities and towns do have to assist these people.

Riggs’s declaration reportedly came one day after 16 migrants were dropped off at a park in Gila Bend — a town of only 2,000 people that does not have a hospital or a shelter — by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP). Riggs said he had been told by CBP that these drop-offs would be a regular occurrence on an indefinite basis.

“To drop people in basically the middle of nowhere, it's 30 miles to the next type of town, and that’s 30 miles of open desert. So especially come July and August, we’re going to be finding bodies,” Riggs told azfamily.com.

The mayor said he and his wife used loaned vans to drive the recent migrants to the Phoenix Welcome Center themselves in order to ensure they had a place to stay.

“I can’t tolerate the thought of little kids having to walk through the hot desert,” he said, calling on the Maricopa County government, Arizona state government and Biden administration for help.

more
https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/544744-arizona-town-declares-state-of-emergency-due-to-border-crisis