Biden Finishes West Coast Donor Tour While Border Still in Crisis
Phoenix, AZ—President Joe Biden just wrapped up a multi-state donor tour for his upcoming reelection campaign neglecting the crisis at the Southern Border. At one point, President Biden was 35 miles away from the border and schmoozing with the elite, prioritizing his billionaire buddies over real issues. Title 42 expires in 56 days and there is no plan from the White House about how to manage the anticipated surge of migrants.
“Fiscal Year 2022 saw the most migrant encounters in history, but we still have not seen any leadership from the White House,” said Jobe Dickinson, President of the Border Security Alliance. “The lack of staffing and resources for Border Patrol along with the upcoming termination of Title 42 will create another surge of illegal immigrants who will take advantage of our flawed border policies. We are already seeing criminal cartels move their operations further west since Texas is investing heavily in border security. This poses a significant problem for Arizona and must be addressed by local and federal leaders immediately.”
A recent Congressional field hearing in Yuma focused on the extensive community impact of the border crisis:
Although the average number of people who entered illegally across this Yuma sector is down to 2,000/week from a prior 5,000-6,000/week, and yet at the same time, fentanyl and methamphetamine and cocaine seizures were up between 200-400 percent because the men and women in uniform were able to direct their attention and efforts to border security and national security.
Yuma’s population is 100,000. The number of migrants crossing the border is 3 times the population of Yuma.
Yuma Regional Medical Center is the only acute care hospital in the area, there is no option to divert care to another facility.
Many of these migrants who come to the hospital are very sick with chronic diseases or are maternity patients with little to no prenatal care; this requires specialized care which is costly.
This has resulted in delayed care to Yuma residents including those who have scheduled surgeries and other procedures due to capacity challenges. Other medical issues require medical transport to Phoenix.
Each migrant requires 3 times the amount of human resources cost to provide a safe medical discharge (this includes contacting family, emergency transportation, hotel rooms, car seats, durable medical equipment, etc.)
This has resulted in $26M in uncompensated care in a 12-month period; not a sustainable business model to have one hospital bare the entire cost for migrant healthcare.
The $26M is equivalent to the pay and benefits of 200 nurses per year.
There were 28,000 known got aways last fiscal year in Yuma; 5,000 so far this fiscal year.
Biological waste being left by those crossing the river illegally harming ecological wildlife.
Sadly, 700+ deaths along the border were investigated by local law enforcement.
There were 750 emergency calls from migrants in the remote desert needing rescue.
The archived video of the hearing can be accessed here.
