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Yuma Mayor Douglas Nicholls on Tuesday declared a local emergency due to the overwhelming release of migrants into the community.

Nicholls issued the emergency following the United States Border Patrol鈥檚 release of nearly 1,300 migrant family members into the city鈥檚 shelter system over the last three weeks.

鈥淚t is with a heavy heart that I declare that we鈥檙e at this point, but it鈥檚 something that I believe we need to do to make sure that our community is maintained and that the human rights of all the migrants are also maintained and that we have a path forward that respects both,鈥� Nicholls said at a .

On Tuesday morning, Yuma鈥檚 local shelter was at its maximum capacity of 200 and, according to Nicholls, Border Patrol planned to release 120 more migrants over the course of the day.

鈥淢igrants continue to be released at a rate that cannot be sustained, overwhelming the current non-profit shelter system,鈥� Nicholls said urging the federal government to provide assistance.

According to Nicholls, Yuma cannot sustain the current humanitarian crisis. He said signing the proclamation was an attempt to 鈥渁vert hundreds of asylum-seeking migrants from being left without resources.鈥�

Yuma鈥檚 state of emergency comes three weeks after the U.S. Department of Homeland Security released a describing the current situation as 鈥渄ire.鈥�

鈥淲e are witnessing historic migration flows that far exceed U.S. capacity and a humanitarian situation that grows worse by the day,鈥� former Homeland Security Secretary Kristjen M. Nielsen wrote. 鈥淥ur facilities are maxed out, our agents and officers are stretched thin. We have come to the point of a system-wide breakdown.鈥�

Two weeks ago, the Trump administration decided to from ports of entry to help with the crisis after seeing its highest total number of daily apprehensions and encounters in over a decade twice in one week.

The increase of migrants is also straining local nonprofits that are trying to transport migrants to their final destinations within the U.S.

鈥淭he City of Yuma has asked for the Salvation Army鈥檚 help in providing food and shelter to people in need who have permission to travel in the United States and are awaiting transport to their final host destinations,鈥� the Yuma Salvation Army said. 鈥淭he Yuma Community Food Bank and Immaculate Conception Catholic Church are among the other community organizations that have banded together in The Yuma Humanitarian Project, and we are grateful for their support.鈥�

Nicholls applauded the work of his community鈥檚 nonprofit aid agencies.

鈥淭he nonprofits have done a great job of trying to move the migrants on to their final destination, which is not Yuma. They鈥檙e not looking to reside in Yuma, they鈥檙e looking to move on to other destinations,鈥� Nicholls said. 鈥淗owever, the transportation network is just insufficient in order to keep up with the demand and the backlog of people staying at the shelter has created this capacity issue.鈥�

For or anyone interested in volunteering or donating to help with the crisis, click .