Commission says Sierra County can't handle migrant influx

Associated Press

In this still from a city of Las Cruces video clip, the U.S. Border Patrol is seen dropping off asylum-seeking migrants on Friday, May 10, 2019, at a bus station for a regional bus service, El Paso-Los Angeles Limousine Express Inc. The station is at 555 S. Valley Drive, Las Cruces.

A New Mexico county has approved a resolution opposing the relocation of migrants within its boundaries as federal authorities grapple with the influx of people crossing the U.S.-Mexico border.

The Sierra County Commission approved the resolution during a meeting Tuesday, saying there’s a crisis in southern New Mexico and that the thousands of migrants already released in Las Cruces, Deming and Lordsburg have strained local resources in those areas.

The resolution asks President Donald Trump to close the U.S.-Mexico border to immigration.

County officials say their position shouldn’t be viewed as political or racist. They described their community as impoverished with virtually no resources and said the resolution is about good governance.

They warned that if federal authorities release migrants in Sierra County, there are no buses, rail stops or commercial flights to transport them to sponsors elsewhere.

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