New warning over cartel threats to Yuma border-crossing students
YUMA, AZ (AZFamily) — A school board member at Yuma Union High School District is speaking out about the dangers faced by students who cross the border daily to attend school in the United States.
While this has long been a common practice in border communities, David Lara is calling for increasing safety measures warning that children are at risk of being exploited by cartels and drug smuggling operations.
The San Luis port of entry is one of the busiest ports along the Arizona-Mexico border. While thousands cross daily for work, a significant number are students commuting to school in Arizona. Lara said over a thousand students make the daily commute.
He explains that many of these students are U.S. citizens or legal permanent residents with a U.S. address, making them eligible to attend school in Arizona. While he disagrees with the practice, his main concern is the risk of exploitation, especially for the kids crossing unaccompanied.
In November, the San Luis Police Department arrested a 14-year-old girl walking down Main Street with fentanyl pills in her backpack. Police said she was a high school student in San Luis, with a home address in Mexico. Lara said it’s cases like these that have some parents concerned.
Maria Salazar has two young kids who go to school in San Luis. She said there’s a lot of insecurity with kids who frequent the border by themselves.
“They’re at risk for a lot of dangers. I have friends that have older kids in high school and it’s something that they talk to me about. I’m very worried. My kids are still young, but we do hear about a lot of incidents that are happening involving drugs,” said Salazar.
She said she would like to see safety measures improved for some of these students but questioned the likelihood.
“So many students and people cross every day. I don’t know if the district could really do anything about it,” she said.
Lara said he would like to see a police officer at the port of entry to help prevent some of this activity and keep students from crossing unaccompanied. He admits it would require the cooperation of the City of San Luis.
Lara said it’s kids as young as five years old that are crossing with other kids and with no adults. He believes these students are an easy target for drug smugglers. Lara could not speak on specific cases but said it was an issue that ebbs and flows.
As border security toughens, he fears cartels will ramp up efforts to get their drugs through ports of entry.
“Every time you reinforce the border like right now, there’s more security at the border. What that does is cartels look for the weakest spots and that’s the ports of entry,” he said. “These kids are being used by the cartel. All it does is put our kids at risk and the community.”
Lara said his efforts with the city of San Luis have been unsuccessful.
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