ARIVACA, Ariz. (KGUN) — The number of migrants crossing the U.S.-Mexico border has plummeted to the lowest levels in decades, according to Customs and Border Protection. CBP recorded just over 61,000 encounters with migrants in January 2025, compared to over 176,000 one year earlier
While this shift may signal a change in migration patterns, local humanitarian groups and border officials say it has created new challenges on the ground.
At a border crossing near Arivaca, a once-open gap in the wall has been sealed, changing the flow of migration. Before the gap was closed, dozens of migrants would pass through daily, setting up temporary camps as they made their way into the United States.
Now, the Green Valley Samaritans, a humanitarian aid group, report a sharp decline in crossings at their camp, with just 79 asylum seekers arriving in February—a stark contrast to previous months when the number often reached 30 per day or more.
“This is where we welcome people, build fires, come out in the early morning and give them coffee and hot chocolate and just try and make sure they survive another day” said Paul Nixon of the Green Valley Samaritans. “This was actually kind of a good, new spot for people. Even though they had been traveling a long time and they were exhausted and hungry, they’d made it.”
The camp was one of the few spots in the border area near Arivaca where cell phone service is available, allowing migrants to call their families to let them know they’re safe. Nixon said the camp was moved last October to give room to Spencer Construction, the company tasked with building the border wall.
While the decrease in crossings may seem like a positive development, Nixon and other advocates warn that the shift has forced migrants to take more dangerous routes through the harsh Arizona desert, increasing risks for both those crossing and border patrol agents trying to locate them.
“We’re miles from the end of the border wall, and that’s where people are having to cross,” Nixon explained. “The closest border patrol station is 25 kilometers away. So it poses real issues not only for the asylum seekers but also for the border patrol to come out and find people.”
Among the most vulnerable are women and children, many of whom arrive unprepared for the desert’s extreme conditions. Paul spoke of a woman from Mali who arrived at the camp looking beat up and who couldn’t keep down water due to hyperthermia.
“Now we’re seeing children and women trying to travel through the desert, which really is a nightmare,” said Laurel Grindy, another member of the Green Valley Samaritans. “They are not prepared.”
According to the Humane Borders’ Migrant Death Mapping, 38 women were found dead while crossing the border in 2023, making up 22% of all cases. With the recent migration pattern changes, this number may rise this year. Between 2010 to 2020, women accounted for about 10% of border-crossing deaths.
In some cases, Grindy said young children arrive alone, with only a note pinned to their clothing containing their information.
“There’s been a number of five-year-olds by themselves, I mean no parents, no relative with them,” Grindy said. “Fortunately, another family would kind of take that child under their wing.”
Nixon believes this situation is a direct result of U.S. border policy.
“For decades, the policy of the U.S. government has been deterrence through death,” Nixon said. “They force people to go farther and farther out into the desert, take a riskier and riskier chance to make their way into the U.S.”
He also pointed out that denying migrants the opportunity to seek asylum violates both U.S. and international law.
“We have domestic and international law that we are just turning a blind eye to that says that we are supposed to allow people to ask for asylum,” Nixon stated. “There’s really no option for people who cross now other than to get picked up by border patrol and await deportation.”
In describing the motives of the Green Valley Samaritans, Nixon says his group follows the parable of the Good Samaritan from the book of Luke, which focuses on the importance of compassion and neighborly love.
“We choose to operate on the premise that this is a human being who needs our care and deserves the food and water we give them,” he said. “If they get caught by border patrol, then so be it. If they reach their families in the United States, so be it. We’re here to provide immediate humanitarian aid.”
“We are opposed to cartel trafficking. We would like to see it stop,” Nixon said. “On the other hand, we want these people to live to tell their story.”
Despite the challenges, the Green Valley Samaritans continue their mission, making daily treks to the border to provide supplies such as water, snacks, gloves,and blankets to those in need.
For more information on their efforts, visit the organization’s website.
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Joel Foster is a multimedia journalist at KGUN 9 who previously worked as an English teacher in both Boston and the Tucson area. Joel has experience working with web, print and video in the tech, finance, nonprofit and the public sectors. In his off-time, you might catch Joel taking part in Tucson's local comedy scene. Share your story ideas with Joel at joel.foster@kgun9.com, or by connecting on Facebook, Instagram or X.
