U.S. Sen. Mark Kelly was in Yuma Friday where he met with local elected officials and law enforcement leaders to discuss the high number of migrants arriving at the border.
Sen. Kelly was in a later meeting with other local leaders on water infrastructure when a federal judge’s decision to block the Biden administration from lifting pandemic border restrictions known as Title 42 next week was announced.
Kelly said he was not surprised by the decision from U.S. District Judge Robert Summerhays in Louisiana.
More than 20 states signed on to a lawsuit, including Arizona. They argued the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention did not go through the proper procedures to end Title 42 and should have considered the impact on state health care systems and other services.
Kelly was among those senators who did not want Title 42 to end without a plan to deal with the aftermath.
"We still need a plan from the administration," Kelly said. "Title 42 should not be in place forever. Before lifting it, there needs to be a comprehensive plan that works for Yuma County, for the city of Yuma and for this area."
The public health order allows immigration authorities to quickly expel migrants at the border without allowing them to seek asylum.
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Stay tuned to KAWC to hear more from elected officials in Yuma County on the impacts the high number of migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border has had on their communities.
