San Luis mayor pleads for president to re-open border
News 11 s Crystal Jimenez reports
SAN LUIS, Ariz. (KYMA, KECY) - For more than a year, the Southern border has been closed off to non-essential travel due to the pandemic. The City of San Luis Mayor Gerardo Sanchez is now saying, it s time to fully re-open the border.
It was March 2020 when the Department of Homeland Security announced it s partnerships with Mexico and Canada to close the borders to help prevent the spread of coronavirus.
During a press conference on Monday, President Biden said it s the first time coronavirus cases are down in all 50 states. Another factor to why Mayor Sanchez believes it s time to completely open the border.
Thieves target catalytic converters off your vehicles
YUMA, Ariz. (KYMA, KECY) - Several businesses around Yuma County have reported their catalytic converters being stolen from their vehicles. The Yuma Police Department said it had seen an increase of these kinds of reports this year.
From December 2020 to April 2021, YPD says it has taken at least 27 cases where people reported their catalytic convertor being stolen from their vehicles.
Annie Clary, the Yuma Family YMCA Executive Director, says in February, three of its busses had its catalytic convertor stolen overnight. The thieves left the YMCA with a $6,000 price tag in damages and to replace the converter. It also had to cancel its after-school program for an entire week because it no longer had sufficient transportation for its children.
New bill addresses crisis at the border
Arizona and Texas senators team up to get relief for Southwestern cities - News 11 s Crystal Jimenez reports
YUMA, Ariz. (KYMA, KECY) - Senator Krysten Sinema (D-AZ) and Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) are teaming up to take aim at the crisis along the Southwestern border.
Thursday the senators announced a new bill addressing the influx of undocumented immigrants, and providing relief to those on the front lines.
Communities across Arizona and Texas have faced many challenges since the start of the year, including the rise in unaccompanied children coming into the U.S.
MCAS Yuma brings WTI training to local park
MCAS Yuma brings WTI training to local park
YUMA, Ariz. (KYMA, KECY) - Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS) Yuma will bring its world-class training to two locations in Yuma Friday, where spectators can witness emergency military operations.
Twice a year, MCAS Yuma hosts a weapons and tactics instructor course (WTI) where Marines from all over the country come for seven weeks to train for various real-life scenarios.
On Friday, that training will be at Kiwanis Park and Arizona Western College (AWC). WTI students will be conducting a foreign humanitarian assistance operation.
This training aims to provide the students with realistic training for a mission they may execute in real-world operations.
Holding on to hope: The story of an asylum-seeker
Luis Rafael Stephers Pina (left) and Karel Stephers (right) sit atop their mothers Cuba home in 2000.
One brother safe - another struggles to make the crossing - News 11 s Crystal Jimenez has their story.
YUMA, Ariz. (KYMA, KECY) - Not all of the the thousands of people heading to the border to seek asylum are from Mexico or Central America. Many come from even farther away.
Karel Stephers brother is one of them. A former captain in the Cuban army, Luis Rafael Stephers Pina, fled his homeland after getting thrown out of the military. Now Karel tells News 11 s Crystal Jimenez, his brother fears for his life.