NOGALES, Ariz (KGUN) — The colder temperatures are now changing how street releases are managed in Santa Cruz County.
Hundreds of migrants continue to be released every morning, but they now wait in an old bank for buses to arrive.
Street releases continue in Nogales, but with the cold weather migrants are now being held in a nearby bank while they wait for buses. Nogales Mayor Jorge Maldonado says the bank has been closed for a few years. pic.twitter.com/jcN3Z4eXun
— Adam Klepp (@AdamKleppAZ) December 27, 2023
Nogales’s mayor Jorge Maldonado told KGUN 9 the bank has been closed for a few years.
Most of the migrants border patrol releases here are part of family units, so it’s safer for them and young kids to wait inside for the buses to Casa Alitas.
They are received by Santa Cruz County employees.
One mom from Colombia arrived with her 12-year-old son, saying she left home for his future.
“There we were threatened," Vivianne said. "Here he could study and have work. We faced danger coming here because we did not arrive legally."
When street releases began, border patrol was reporting around 10,000 apprehensions a day.
In the week leading up to Christmas they reported almost 20,000, a sign there’s no end in sight for these local street releases.