In his Friday memo, Huckelberry said district officials asked border police to release families at Why Station instead of driving them to Ajo Square.
“Because of the time and complexity of the transfer from the Border Patrol facility in Why to Ajo, which was then picked up and transferred to Casa Alitas, and the extremely low positivity rate [of coronavirus cases] To ease the increasing burden on Ajo, we asked the Border Patrol to release people directly to wait for transport at their Why facility, ”Huckelberry wrote.
Ajo is a city of around 3,700 year-round residents and does not have many resources, which means that migrants are released there at their own discretion.
Huckelberry’s plea sounded like “take out the middle person we were for lack of better response organization,” said Cooper.
“I think if they can find a way to do this and make it a smooth, direct handoff, I think it makes more sense,” said Cooper.
Customs and border guards declined to comment until the agency received official notice from Pima County.
Regarding the pandemic, two of the 315 asylum seekers released in Ajo have tested positive for COVID-19, Huckelberry wrote in the memo. The two people who tested positive were taken to another facility for isolation.
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