YUMA, Ariz.-
U.S. senator Jeff Flake visited Yuma’s local facilitates to discuss issues the county is facing.
Senator Flake attended a briefing at the Yuma Sector border patrol and spoke to local border patrol agents. Flake then took a tour of Marine Corps Air Station Yuma. He also spoke to Yuma County Sheriff Leon Wilmot about the United States Attorney’s office of Arizona refusing to prosecute undocumented immigrants. The senator says it is leading to more people crossing the border illegally. “That we fill is leading to a spike in crossings,” says Flake. “we want to make sure we don’t incentivize others to come and return the Yuma sector to what it was years ago.”
Senator Flake also discussed Yuma’s economy and high unemployment rate.“We have a lot of resources here that we just can’t find anywhere else. We want to make sure they are fully utilized but in general, we’ve got to have an economy that’s growing at a faster pace than this economy is growing for us to really create jobs,” says Flake.
Flake says excess regulations on the environment, labor, and financials are hurting the local economy. He says free trade is what will help solve the problem. “We have got to trade. We are only 3% of the world’s population, only 20% in economic output and unless we trade freely then we are not going to grow economically.”
The senator also shared his view on the presumptive nominee Donald Trump. “Trump was not my first choice in fact he wasn’t my 17th choice. I’m a little chagrined at where we are. I’m concerned as a republican that we are going to have a difficult time in November,” says Flake.