(energetic music) - Hello, and welcome to "Arizona 360".

I'm Lorraine Rivera.

Thanks for joining us for this special program, focusing on the Arizona-Mexico border.

A region that once again has the nation's attention, because of an increase in apprehensions that escalated shortly after President Biden took office.

Customs and Border Protection has documented a sustaining uptick in monthly encounters along the entire Southwest border.

From 78,000 in January to 180,000 in May.

But as experts have told us, a policy known as Title 42 allows CBP to quickly expel people back into Mexico, and has led to a rise in recidivism, or repeat crossings.

This week, we explore what's behind those numbers, with an up-close look at enforcement in Yuma and Pima counties.

Plus, we hear from some of the migrants making the journey.

Right now, we're outside of the small community of Sasabe, about 70 miles south of Tucson.

Our reporting begins with a bird's eye view of the terrain of Pima county's west desert, where on average border patrol agents get about 30 to 40 9-1-1 calls a day.

Our morning begins on the tarmac.

Jack Painter is our pilot.

We're boarding an AS350, commonly referred to as an A-Star.

A mobile camera operator has spotted a group of four near the town of Arivaca, about four miles north of the border.

- Okay, it's 39 miles away.

I takes about 22 minutes to get there.

- [Lorraine] Painter is an Air Interdiction Agent with CBP Air and Marine Operations.

He's recorded more than 7,000 flight hours.

From above, he's able to help agents on the ground.

- [Jack] It looks like an agent down in the cut right there.

- [Agent] I got bodies right in front of me, right in front of me here.

- [Lorraine] All four wearing camouflage clothing and hiding under trees.

Two agents take the group into custody, place them in handcuffs, and walk them out of the canyon.

- [Agent] I got 'em all cuffed up.

I'll just stand by for my partner here.

- Okay, sounds good, great job.

- [Lorraine] We're in one of three aircraft up this morning, and onto the next call.

- [Jack] So I'll just be putting the coordinates in real quick.

- [Lorraine] A few miles in we're told to redirect.

- Hey, Whiskey-1-2-7, I'm sorry.

We got to transition to a different call, so we're gonna have to break off support for you.

- [Lorraine] A group of eight, also in camouflage.

Painter coordinates with operators in Tucson and agents below him.

- Okay, this is gonna be actually right close to the border.

- [Lorraine] The group scatters.

They're hard to spot from the air.

Other agents arrive, as well as the Horse Patrol Unit.

- [Jack] I think they're pretty well told when the helicopter's in the area, just don't move, 'cause that really gives away their position.

- [Lorraine] Three of the five are located.

Then Painter gets his fourth call of the morning.

We've been in the air for about an hour.

On the Ton Offer Nation, a man has called for help using WhatsApp on his phone.

- He's a good 20 miles north of the border.

So he could have easily been, you know, maybe on his second or even third day.

Yeah hey, we've got the 9-1-1 caller in sight.

He's standing right now, but looks a little dizzy.

- [Lorraine] The heat limits how the aircraft can function, impacting electronics and how much weight it can carry, including fuel.

- We're gonna have to break off for fuel.

But just wanted to let you know that he is at that coordinates.

- [Lorraine] Over the Altar Valley, we see the vastness of the desert.

During the summer, conditions can be deadly.

In the first few weeks of June, the Pima County Medical Examiner recorded 29 migrant deaths.

Hours after our flight, we learned that the 9-1-1 caller died from hyperthermia.

A 35 year old man from Honduras.

His call had come into the Arizona Air Coordination Center.

- Okay, go ahead with the coordinates.

- [Lorraine] A hub linking CBP partners alongside other federal, local, and state agencies.

- All the dots are agents, actually.

We color code 'em based on... - [Lorraine] Ryan Riccucci serves as the acting director.

His team manages calls placed along the Arizona-Mexico border.

Overseeing calls from cell towers and imagery off surveillance systems.

- So we have a decision support system, so that when a call comes in it's, where's the call?

What condition are they in?

Is it a rescue?

Do they have battery life?

Is it urgent?

What capabilities are up?

And then we have to do the pilot calculus, I call it.

Figuring out that bird, how much flight time does it have left?

How long is it gonna take to get to the area, because we don't want to send a bird to go somewhere just to turnaround.

- [Lorraine] Every agent in the field has an Android phone connected to what's known as the Team Awareness Kit.

The network expanded this past April, giving everyone in this room and in the field a clear enough picture to send support where it's needed.

- Are they just on the other side of it?

- Yeah, they're on top it.

- [Lorraine] Improved technology, though, he says, isn't always enough, when he talks about the Honduran man who died.

- And I would say this is the worst case scenario.

Of where the team did the best they could with what they had.

So the call comes in and it's immediate.

Do you have coordination?

Do you have coordinates, no.

So that means you have a hundred thousand square meters to try to figure it out.

The person on the phone wasn't quite lucid, so they weren't able to give good information about where they were, what does the mountain look like.

- [Lorraine] That's where aircraft comes in yet again.

This air and marine fleet is the largest and busiest in the country, logging more than 10,000 flight hours every year.

This is also where Customs and Border Protection sends all of its UH60s for maintenance.

Director Mike Montgomery shows us A-Stars, Blackhawks, and fixed wing aircraft.

He says surveillance systems have saved countless lives over the years.

- Now anywhere along that corridor we could be called to.

So we need the speed, the terrain is terrible.

So some of these areas where the border patrol agents work, it takes them an hour and a half, sometimes two hours just to get to their place where they need to start working.

From here, I can be an Ajo in 45 minutes, and I can be in the boot heel of Douglas in about the same amount of time.

- [Lorraine] Back in the field, Agent Jesus Vasavilbaso drives us along the newly-constructed border wall near the town of Sasabe.

A man appears along the fence line.

(Jesus speaking Spanish) - So he wants some water.

(Lorraine speaking Spanish) - The man agrees to talk to us as long as we don't show his face.

He says he's 38 years old and from the State of Guadalajara.

He tells me the smuggler stole his phone and most of his money.

Vasavilbaso translates.

- There were a group of 10, and they paid him a thousand dollars.

But he heard a helicopter and took off before they even crossed the border.

So he's trying to get some trying to walk to town, to the town of Sasabe, to try to get some help and try to go back home.

So he said that it's not very manly for the coyote to leave him behind, and that he's not going to attempt to come again.

- [Lorraine] As we're talking, another agent appears.

He's a liaison with Mexico and calls Grupos Beta, a government agency in Mexico that helps migrants.

In the back seat of this agent's vehicle is Angel, a native of Guerrero.

He's been living in Utah for the last four years, but had returned home to see his wife and children.

- He had to pay $8,000 from Sasabe all the way to Phoenix, and then another $15,000 to go to Utah.

(Agent speaking Spanish) So he said that his family members here, his cousins, they were going to pay the $8,000 for him to get there, and then he will have to repay him.

Now he says that if we would've known what he knows now, that he wouldn't have done it, because it's really hard.

It's very difficult to cross the border.

- [Lorraine] On the ground and in the air, one day with the Tucson sector offers a snapshot into the latest surge along the Southern border.

Further west in Yuma, border patrol agents process anywhere from 200 to 500 people every single day.

The sector shares 126 linear miles with Mexico.

105 of those miles were recently developed from 18 to 30 foot tall fencing.

Like other areas along the Southwest, though, when President Biden halted border construction, it left open entry point says, Chris Clem, the Sector Chief.

- Large family units, large give ups, and that's drawing agents away from their primary mission of border security.

And so that's been a big challenge.

And of course, these are all coordinated by the smugglers to bring large groups in, and then try to send other things through through other parts of the border.

- You have new border infrastructure.

Has that made a difference?

- Certainly.

Infrastructure, anything, the wall system, access roads, that always works.

They control, they contain, they impede, deny, and allows agents to do what they need to do.

- That being said, though, you noted that every day your agents are apprehending several hundred people.

How's that possible?

- It's possible, because there there's areas where there's infrastructure is lacking, where it was never built, or it's legacy vehicle barrier.

So that just keeps vehicles from coming through, but people can walk through the border.

And so that is an easy area for them to come across, which our agents respond rapidly.

But that is a pull factor from our resources to, you know, make sure that we're taking care of these groups as soon as they come across the border.

But that does impact us in the other areas where agents get pulled from.

- There's a term that I've heard within DHS, the Got Aways.

Somehow you are able to quantify how many people made it passed the multiple layers of defense and into the United States.

Can you help educate people on how that works?

- So Got Aways are going to be based on known entries that we do not resolve, whether they've we've tracked them, and they've run from us, or we find sign, which is evidence of their footprints or something on the ground.

What I can tell you this, though, Yuma sector still remains the highest effectiveness rate on the Southwest border.

So while we are seeing an uptick in Got Aways, and it poses a challenge, especially when we've got these large groups coming through, we are still out there doing our job.

We are still interdicting people that are trying to avoid our detection.

- Why are some migrants literally walking up to agents and others are avoiding you?

- Again, as we mentioned earlier on, nobody comes across the board without paying or through the control of the cartel, the smuggling organizations.

So when large groups are coming across and surrender on entry somewhere in areas where there's limited infrastructure, the other areas are being exploited by folks that have a criminal, you know, a criminal element, whether they're smuggling narcotics, whether they're truly trying to avoid detection or apprehension, cause they may have a criminal history.

So that's all coordinated.

And so what they know is border patrol agents are going to respond in due time to the large group.

So they're hoping that our resources get stretched, create a vulnerability, and then send those groups through in other parts of the county and along the border.

- [Lorraine] This year, Yuma agents have seen an 83% increase in smuggling cases, and it includes stash houses.

Investigations reveal, on average, crossing the Southern border in this area costs at least $6,000.

- They're paying somehow and some way.

They may have not given cash money up front, but there is something that's driving that.

Because again, they are paying at the border.

There are service fees, if you will, be in charged by landowners on the south side if you're gonna come through our area.

- [Lorraine] Large groups like this one happen at random.

During our 24 hour visit, our crew came upon two groups who easily enter the U.S. Men, women, and children, some of them alone.

It takes an agent about two hours to process an unlawful entry.

Yuma sector recently acquired funding to receive a permanent centralized processing center where non-agent can process a case, putting the agent back in the field sooner.

In the meantime, Clem and his 750 agents are manning more than 180,000 square miles and it's ever changing dynamics.

- Do we have a handle on it?

We're getting better at it.

We're we're learning from lessons learned from previous years.

We have structures in place.

We have personnel deployments in place.

We're planning on, you know, increasing the bandwidth and some of the throughput in processing of the subjects we take into custody.

So all of these things are lesson learned from plenty of experience and we're going to continue to plan and evolve our operations.

- And when you talk about evolving, you will undoubtedly face the criticism from the public who talks about how the infrastructure, all those things have led to injuries, deaths among migrants.

How do you respond to those criticisms?

- Well, I'll respond to them with the facts.

You know, the infrastructure works, it saves lives.

It allows our border patrol agents to respond to the threats.

It keeps communities safe, and again, border security is national security.

So the more things that we have that help us do our job, makes us do our job better and makes America safe.

- [Lorraine] Local authorities, like the Yuma County Sheriff's Office, also have a role in border security.

We learn more from Sheriff Leon Wilmot.

He started as a deputy here in 1987.

Voters elected him to the top spot in 2012, where he's now serving his third term.

Wilmot's present day concerns are born from over 30 years of policing the area and investigating border-related crimes.

- Our concern, initially, and we expressed this to the Department of Homeland Security's command group in the very beginning of sheriffs all on the border, it was the fact that we were concerned that we were going to see a repeat of history that we've seen here before.

- [Lorraine] Sheriff Leon Wilmot says, on average, about 90 deputies cover the 5,500 square mile county.

Any instance of crime falls on his office.

The worst, he says, was in 2005-2006 when this border region was among the leaders in unlawful crossings.

- So we would end up taking calls from border patrol, because they would apprehend a group of 12 to 15.

They had been victimized by the cartels, or another criminal organization on the other side of the international boundary, that would come across, rob them or rape them, and then run back into Mexico.

- And then it falls on your department to investigate- - And that falls on your local law enforcement, because the federal government does not do those cases.

- [Lorraine] Cases also involve migrant deaths.

So far this summer, deputies have investigated 11.

Last year's total was 16.

- [Leon] Towards the east, we were ending up with the deaths in the desert.

And that ties up our resources, 'cause our federal government doesn't investigate those as well.

- You recently had the opportunity to request National Guard to assist your department.

What sort of things are they doing to help you?

- What it has enabled us to do is allowed us to get our officers away from doing administrative responsibilities and get them out into the field more for a more high-profile presence.

- [Lorraine] Especially helpful, given the increase in activity, Wilmot says.

The terrain ranges from mountains, to sand dunes, and the river banks.

Today, there are 50 guardsmen in Yuma helping deputies.

They maintenance vehicles and help inside the county jail.

Every troop means a deputy is back in the field.

Outside of enforcement, Wilmot says illegal immigration impacts economics in this county of about 200,000.

- Border patrol detects a group smuggling narcotics into the country.

Then they turn that over to DEA.

DEA, in turn, runs prosecution through the U.S. Attorney's Office.

We've seen in the past, and this was another concern that I had, was that the U.S. Attorney's Office would get to the point where they wouldn't charge these individuals because of one reason or another.

And border patrol and DEA would be left with taking the narcotics and then repatriating the individuals with no consequence delivery.

So at one time we had over 198, almost 200 backpackers in our jail, 0-5-0-6 again, that the U.S. Attorney's Office would not charge for smuggling narcotics into the U.S. Each and every one of those was a 100% prosecutable case, we did it at the state level, but again, that cost was bore by the citizens of Yuma County and taxpayers.

- If I'm an outsider and I'm listening to this, and I don't know very much about Yuma County, it sounds like based on the numbers, it could be a dangerous place and a community I'd want to avoid.

Is that a fair statement?

- No.

With the fact that a lot of ours, in our geographic area, is more family unit crisis that we're dealing with down here.

They're being moved now by ICE.

We actually have an NGO here that's actually assisting them, and that's been set up.

So they're actually doing the testing now, through that non-governmental organization in Yuma.

So border patrol has a place to go if HSI isn't able to pick them up.

- But is it safe when it comes to quality of life in Yuma county for the average resident?

- For some of our citizens, it has been rough in the very beginning, because of them hiding in their backyards.

The individuals that are coming in through our east desert.

We still get them, but we've been able to deploy more personnel out in the eastern part to be able to deter that.

So it's helped our community with that part of it.

How long we can sustain that is the biggest question.

- [Lorraine] As Wilmot mentioned, non-governmental organizations have long stepped in to help migrants reach their next destination after they're released from federal custody.

For groups dropped off in small border communities, oftentimes their next stop is Tucson where volunteers Casalitas are waiting.

Casalitas is an aid shelter for migrants.

It's run by Catholic community services, and its mission has evolved in recent years.

This particular Tuesday in June is busy.

More than 70 people are scheduled to arrive.

Some dropped off by branches of the federal government, like border patrol or ICE, others by NGOs along the border.

Every person here is permitted to be in the United States, albeit temporarily.

They've crossed as far east as Douglas and as far west as Yuma.

Their journey, though, originates much farther than that.

Today we meet families from throughout Latin America.

This is Juan Jose from Nicaragua.

He's traveling with his young son and wife.

Their journey to the U.S., he tells me, began 27 days ago.

(Juan speaking Spanish) - [Translator] I had a little money, and on the road, they took it from me.

We went a whole week without buying anything for our son.

For five days, we didn't eat.

All we could do was get water for him.

But thanks to God, we're here now.

- [Lorraine] He's a farmer who has a sponsor in Florida.

Juan Jose will wear this ankle monitor until he sees a judge in late June.

Speaking in both English and Spanish, Juan Jose says he misses his teenage daughter.

- [Juan] I am happy, because my child lives with me.

But I'm sad because my daughter lives in Nicaragua.

(Juan speaking Spanish) - [Translator] She is my blood, and she's so far away from me.

- [Lorraine] The distance is evident in this room.

- My favorite thing about the space, is the families have grabbed some chalk and started leaving messages along the walls surrounding us in this courtyard.

Sometimes it's their names, sometimes it's where they are from.

Sometimes it's, you know, just a little bit of love for their home country that they have left.

But we really enjoy these messages, because it personalizes and reminds us about the folks who have joined us here.

- [Lorraine] Teresa Cavendish is the Director of Operations for Catholic Community Services, and she's the program director of Casalitas.

- They are fleeing life-threatening hardship.

They are trying to save the life of their child.

They are trying to escape from extortion, and kidnapping, and torture.

These are issues that rise above our policies, our political needs.

We connect the people who come to us.

- [Lorraine] Every day, she and her colleague, Diego Pena Lopez, coordinate arrangements for the dozens who arrive as guests.

- There's a wide variety of services that we provide the families when they get here.

First is an understanding of their rights and what's going on.

Quite a few percent of our family, like 11%, are missing loved ones.

So educating them, medical services, vaccine, COVID testing, clothing, a warm meal, and a shower, and then connection with their families in their home countries as well as across the U.S. - [Lorraine] In 2019, Casalitas helped 19,000 migrants.

In 2020, the number dropped to 1,100.

So far this year, volunteers are on pace to assist more than 20,000.

Every person's story is different and complex.

The average stay at Casalitas is 12 to 72 hours.

Volunteers create spaces where families can rest and figure out their next steps.

If someone is ill with COVID, or travel to their next destination is delayed, they can stay in a motel.

To help with those costs, Pima county received $2.1 million from FEMA.

As the need continues, NGOs like this one say communication between federal agencies and support systems are improving, making it easier to serve those in need.

- I think it's more that it needs to continue to be emphasized the human factor, the dignity factor, of the global family that we really are.

And I am not a proponent for removing immigration laws in our country.

I mean, I'm a citizen of this country and very proud of us, and other things that we do to respond to the needs of others around the globe.

But we just, we need to remember and focus on the people.

- [Lorraine] Families like Juan Jose's are in the minority these days when it comes to those allowed to make their case in the United States.

At the start of the pandemic, in March of 2020, former President Trump enacted Title 42, a decades old public health directive his administration said would curb the spread of COVID-19 from immigrants.

President Biden has kept it in place.

(woman speaking Spanish) The rule lets border patrol circumvent normal processing protocols and expel immigrants back into Mexico hours after they're encountered.

CBP has recorded close to half a million Title 42 expulsions between January and May of this year alone.

But some recent exemptions include unaccompanied children.

Up to this point, we've encountered individuals who've traveled thousands of miles combined to reach the border.

A physical journey that leads into a legal one.

Next, they can find themselves in trenched in a court system that can take years to navigate.

A process that longtime immigration attorney, Patricia Majia describes as frustrating and under-resourced.

We discuss the impacts of current immigration trends.

- When there's a new influx of people, they tend to come to the front of the line.

And so all our cases get pushed back.

And so sometimes my clients don't get to present their claim for a long, long time.

And sometimes they even lose their claim because children age out and different things happen.

So it's definitely a backlog.

It's all clogged.

It's a traffic jam.

- This is somewhat new, as well, 'cause some of the families that I have encountered over the last few weeks, they told me they had court dates coming up as early as late June.

- Yes, and that is because the other, regular docket has been bumped out, so cases are being reset further down in the year to next year to accommodate the new applicants.

- What's likely to happen at those types of visits before an immigration judge?

- Typically they're very short.

They just, they identify, prove that they say who they are, and then after that, the case is reset for preparation, either to find an attorney or to file an application the next time.

- If President Biden removes Title 42, we may likely see people sitting at ports of entry making a request, or as we saw in '18 and '19, before the pandemic, people entering the United States unlawfully just hoping to get their chance to state their claim.

- Yes, pretty much, pretty much.

But again, the problem is even if that happens, I don't know if the system is really in place to handle all these claims or to monitor the flow of people.

- You've been in this business for about 20 years.

You talk about this backlog.

What is likely to continue happening if this issue, the policies aren't addressed and there's more infrastructure when it comes to, for example, immigration court.

- Well, I think it's been going on for so long, ever since I could remember.

Just people get discouraged.

I mean, you want to follow the rule of law.

Most people do, honestly.

They want to follow a process, but the process is there, but it's so slow and it's so inefficient.

So it discourages, sometimes, people from presenting a claim.

So I've met people who said, well, I was afraid.

And you asked, well, why didn't you turn yourself in?

Why didn't you present a claim?

You had a great claim back then, not so much anymore.

And they said, well, I didn't know how to do it.

I didn't have money.

I didn't have an attorney.

And I knew it would take years, so I just figured I would like, you know, live here and try to figure it out.

- You immigrated to United States as a teenager, you are an immigration attorney.

What's been left out of the conversation?

What needs to be known at the federal level that's happening here locally?

- Well, I think what's important is that these are human beings.

These are people, these are families.

And obviously they're coming here, not really because they want to, because they need to.

I think a lot of them are really fleeing for their lives.

They're really not safe where they are.

And this country is meant to welcome them, I think, but there needs to be a clear for that.

Obviously we don't want just anybody.

People need to be vetted, they need to be, you know, they need to be screened in all kinds of ways, and I'm all for that.

But right now, nothing is working.

There's no clear system, there's no, even if you have money, even if you want to follow a system, even if you want to file forms, it's a mess.

It's complete chaos.

I don't know if you've ever visited the detention facility for children here.

I have, and it's heart-wrenching.

I mean, they, that's a whole other conversation, but it's very difficult.

I mean, I think people will live with the impact of these.

This can change their lives forever.

- That's all now from the southern border.

Thanks so much for joining us.

To get in touch, visit us on social media, or send an email to arizona360@azpm.org and let us know what you think.

We're taking a break next week for the 4th of July weekend.

We'll see you again on July 9th.

(energetic music)