Being the Mayor of a city can be difficult. Actually, being Mayor is difficult. Being the Mayor of a border city when officials in Washington D.C. don't recognize the glaring border security failure is extremely difficult.

That is the position I have been in for the last four years. I became Mayor of Yuma in 2014. Yuma is located at the intersection of the Arizona, California and Mexico borders. International realities are a part of life in Yuma.

The border was relatively quiet—with occasional issues of large groups arriving at the Port of Entry in San Luis—during my first term. The events were brief and would go away as fast as they arose.

Then it all changed in 2019.