A cross-country convoy of people who want the U.S.- Mexico border closed to undocumented immigrants met in Yuma Saturday for one of three rallies.
The Take Our Border Back Convoy held a rally at Britain's Farm in Yuma. Separate rallies were held in San Ysidro, Calif. south of San Diego and Quemado, Tex. about 20 miles north of Eagle Pass.
Participants in Yuma said they are upset with how the Biden administration is handling immigration. The convoy was held before U.S. Senate negotiators announced they reached a deal on a $118 billion bill to pair funding for the border with security assistance for Israel and Ukraine. The bill is facing long odds in the House.
The convoy rally was announced as a peaceful assembly and there were no reports from Yuma law enforcement agencies about any confrontations involving convoy participants at or near the border.
Carl Richard Kaiser is a member of the Yuma County Tea Party. He sat on a trolley car parked outside Britain's Farm with the U.S. and Arizona flags and signs and flags for local, state and national Republican candidates. Kaiser would ring the bell as convoy participants drove by.
"This is our last call to Make America Great Again. We need to shut our borders down," Kaiser said. "(President Joe) Biden is letting people come into our country. He's giving them money and he's giving them bus rides to wherever they want to go and I think we need to take care of our own people first."
Inside the venue, Jodi Kernkamp of Yuma held a sign that read "We want our border, freedoms and country back. God Bless USA."
"We're here to rally for our rights, our freedoms and our beliefs," Kernkamp said, adding that she believes more needs to be done by local officials and law enforcement.
"It's just ridiculous," she said. "They've let it go for so long and they've done the minimal effort required and that's not okay."
Barry Brummett told KAWC he drove down from Goodyear when he heard about the TOBB rally. He held a sign that read "The USA is full! Secure our border"
"It's our state, it's our country, it's not for illegals," Brummett said. "I applaud the Border Patrol and I'm sorry for our government."
Participants came in groups throughout the afternoon and some people from the California rally drove in later in the evening. The Yuma Police Department and Yuma County Sheriff's Office had issued a joint statement last week that they were in contact with convoy organizers and wanted to assure the public that the safety of all was the top priority.
A crowd estimate was not given but hundreds attended the Yuma rally. Earlier reports from Texas said the convoy was much smaller than the tens of thousands that were announced.
