YUMA, AZ (AZFamily) — The Yuma Border Patrol Sector is adding infrastructure reinforcements along the U.S.-Mexico Border.

Just east of the San Luis Port of Entry, over a mile in new razor wire is being added to the base of the border fence. The wire is being placed in an effort to deter undocumented crossings in the area.

“For us, our primary focus is to prevent the illegal entry of people, contraband, drugs, from getting into the country,” said Justin De La Torre, Yuma Border Patrol Chief.

The area is near a residential zone that border patrol said human smugglers often take advantage of because of its proximity to the border.

“Smuggling organizations have the ability to make a quick entrance and blend into the population. It’s another layer, it helps slow down the flow once people do try to climb over, it slows them down and buys our agents time to respond,” said De La Torre.

He said the wire is material that had been purchased during the first Trump era, but shortly after Biden took office infrastructure projects were put on pause.

“There was a hold on any additional infrastructure deployments, now we have the ability to do that and we’re starting to deploy some more infrastructure again,” said De La Torre.

He said that includes dozens of surveillance cameras and other technology.

“We do anticipate activating some of the technology that we previously had deployed which includes lighting and camera systems along the border in Yuma,” said De La Torre.

He also expects some of the gaps along Yuma’s border will be completed with new fencing.

President Donald Trump has vowed to resume construction of the border wall during his second term.

Yuma mayor Douglas Nicholls supports enhancing security and is optimistic about the federal help coming to the border.

“When you look at the election cycle a lot of people protested through their vote and they made sure they elected a president that was focused on border security,” said Nicholls. “The federal government needs to be ready and make sure that they’re there to take care of the federal responsibilities and not rely upon local government, local nonprofits, and local citizens to take care of the issues that we pay our federal government to take care of for us.”

Illegal border crossings in Yuma have hit an all-time low, with an average of just 12 apprehensions per day. They were roughly 40 per day when Trump took office.

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