Yuma County nonprofit creates transition center for migrants

I'm here in Summerton just outside of Yuma at the regional center for Border Health we were here in May right when title 42 ended but we wanted to follow up and see what has happened since then and as you can see behind me there is still so much need in this community by the bus load they arrive hundreds of people all coming from different places with different fears and different circumstances but they all have the same dream the American dream just like Joanna pñ in their eyes you can see just

how exhausting the 3,000 M Journey has been after getting apprehended at the border they were processed background checked and released by border patrol agents as their Asylum requests play out Joanna tells me in Colombia the threats from gang are constant more than anything she says she wants a better life for her daughter [Music] Celeste this outdoor tent area is now a transition Center where border patrol agents take hundreds of migrants each day after they've been processed migrants get foo

d water covid tests they can charge cell phones and use Wi-Fi all to connect with friends and family here in the US who they'll stay with as their Asylum requests play out in Immigration Court I was here last May right before title 42 ended numbers are down slightly from then but the flow of migrants is constant it's easy to to say buses or to say numbers but we see the human face and we see the suffering that a lot of them have been through Alex Beano with the center says what they thought woul

d last for 3 months has now gone on for 3 years this is a humanitarian crisis on a global scale this is very different than any other time that we' seen migration coming across the border Regional Center for Border Health president and CEO Amanda air says the harrowing stories of violence and economic desperation are all too common we've never seen this so much violence from people from countries that they're coming from since February 2021 Amanda tells me the group has helped more than 2 15,000

migrants those are huge numbers those are huge numbers you know um in such a short time the problem is there simply isn't any other group here that can help on this scale that infrastructure simply does not exist here in Yuma County no it doesn't for us being able to help the families they're being released and assist the border patrol with not having to have the just the families walk into the streets of the city of Yuma um is important for us the group helps migrants arrange travel plans to s

tay with friends and family once their plane tickets are booked migrants board buses headed to Sky Harbor on the bus we met Guadalupe getting ready to fly to Oklahoma with her two kids Guadalupe says she's coming from Durango Mexico and tells me she's leaving because of the violence she tells me she simply wants a better life for her children any sacrifice made up until this moment has been worth the risk now I'm told that if people are not ready to travel today they can spend a few nights in a

motel here in Yuma and there's also a church in the valley that can assist them for a few days as well needless to say this is a major Community effort that takes so many players in order to pull off every single day we're reporting here in Summerton Nick cetti abc5 Arizona