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Kari Lake, at the border near Yuma, says she'll 'secure the border and end illegal immigration'

Republican U.S. Senate candidate Kari Lake addresses reporters at the border in Yuma County, Ariz. on Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2024.
Victor Calderón/KAWC
Republican U.S. Senate candidate Kari Lake addresses reporters at the border in Yuma County, Ariz. on Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2024.

Republican U.S. Senate candidate Kari Lake is travelling around Arizona on a campaign bus for what her campaign is calling the "Vote Early Tour." Lake was in Yuma County on Tuesday and Wednesday with just under two weeks until Election Day.

On Wednesday morning, she met with reporters at the border where the fence ends and Cocopah Indian Tribe land begins west of Somerton. It's the site where Republican elected officials and candidates have gone in recent months and perhaps the most used site where migrants who turn themselves in are processed by U.S. Border Patrol Yuma Sector officials.

On this morning, it was quiet and hot, with no migrant in sight. Although Border Patrol officials have not released migrant numbers as often as before, Lake said her source in BP said they are still seeing 75-100 migrants each night. An official at the Regional Center for Border Health in Somerton, where migrants are taken for health screenings and snacks and water before they make flight plans the migrants pay for out of Phoenix, told KAWC they are only seeing buses every other day instead of daily.

Lake told reporters her opponent, Democratic U.S. Rep. Ruben Gallego, and other Democrats including Vice President Kamala Harris, were to blame for the "open border." She said she will "secure the border and end illegal immigration."

Lake repeated an accusation from conservatives that Department of Homeland Security officials wants to help Harris and that migrants apprehended in the San Diego area are being bused every day to Yuma and released. No such bus trips have been reported in Yuma.

Democrats including Harris continue to say that there was a bipartisan border deal but that Trump had Republican senators kill the bill so that it would benefit his presidential campaign. Lake told KAWC that bill "was a bad bill" and that it did not include enough funding to address border security.

On Tuesday, Lake met with supporters in downtown Yuma outside the recorder's office and at Lutes Casino.

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Stay tuned to KAWC for more on Kari Lake's visit to Yuma and the border and continuing election coverage.

Kari Lake speaks to reporters surrounded by supporters in downtown Yuma on Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2024.
Victor Calderón/KAWC
Kari Lake speaks to reporters surrounded by supporters in downtown Yuma on Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2024.

Victor is originally from West Sacramento, California and has lived in Arizona for more than five years. He began his print journalism career in 2004 following his graduation from Georgetown University in Washington D.C. Victor has been a reporter for the following daily newspapers: The Monterey County Herald, The Salinas Californian and the Reno Gazette-Journal, where he covered stories including agriculture, education and Latino community news. Victor has also served as a local editor for Patch, a national news organization with hyperlocal websites, in Carmichael, California in the Sacramento area. He also served as the editor for The New Vision, the newspaper for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Tucson, which includes Yuma and La Paz counties. Victor lives in Somerton. He enjoys spending time with his family and friends and following most sports.
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