Yuma County supervisor says Mayorkas promised changes during border visit

PHOENIX — Yuma County Supervisor Jonathan Lines said a Wednesday meeting with Alejandro Mayorkas resulted in the head of Homeland Security promising changes at the southern border.

“It absolutely seems like a shift in his policy,” Lines told KTAR News 92.3 FM’s The Mike Broomhead Show on Thursday.

Lines said that Mayorkas turned over the meeting to him and other Arizona officials, who stressed the need for policy changes as migration numbers and apprehensions have surged in recent months.

Lines said his top request was completing construction of the wall, including improving lighting and plugging holes in the Yuma area.

Mayorkas told Lines he would follow up on the progress of the requests “within the next few weeks.”

“It wasn’t a meeting just to check the boxes,” Lines said. “We have got valid concerns and we brought them all to the table from every segment of not just our community, but Arizona.”

Mayorkas’ appearance in Yuma was his first at the border in Arizona since he was named DHS secretary in 2021.

Arizona leaders, including Gov. Doug Ducey, have called on the Democrat-led federal government to do more to secure the southern border and have called the situation a crisis.

The conversation and willingness to work with state and local leaders felt like a step in the right direction for Lines, who previously served as chairman of the Arizona Republican Party.

“I hope that he’s here to fulfill his commitments that he made to us in the in the Yuma community,” Lines said.

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