NOGALES, Ariz. (KGUN) — Santa Cruz County's Department of Emergency Management director says Border Patrol has released 9,000 migrants onto Terrace Avenue in Nogales since September 13.
This week numbers are rising again as county employees working on the ground said 300 migrants were dropped off each day on Monday and Tuesday.
Migrants often don’t know where they are, or what to do.
Most of Tuesday's drop offs are families and young kids, but single adult men were also street-released.
Over the last twelve months in the Tucson sector, families made up over 130,000 of border patrol's apprehensions.
In this group is Jessica Lopez Castellanos and her sons from Jalisco, Mexico.
Castellanos says their journey to the U.S. was treacherous but now they feel safe.
“When we had to go over the wall, we were a little afraid, but then we saw immigration," Castellanos said. "And I became more confident.”
Castellanos tells me she didn’t come to the U.S. to help herself.
She wants a chance for her children to have a better life.
“I want them to study, and to finish a degree. To have a profession, and a job to be able to survive. To get ahead," Castellanos said.
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Adam Klepp is a reporter for KGUN 9. At his previous station in Yuma, Adam focused on a range of local issues including the border, water rights and healthcare. He is originally from Detroit, Michigan, and attended both Loyola University Chicago and Syracuse University. Share your story ideas and important issues with Adam by emailing adam.klepp@kgun9.com or by connecting on Twitter.
