Arizona Senators Mark Kelly (D-AZ) and Kristen Sinema (I-AZ) have asked for answers from three federal agencies after the state received just $23.9 million of more than $800 million in funding they helped secure to fund private organizations that house illegal immigrants released into the United States after being encountered by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) during their transit across the border.
In a letter addressed to DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and the heads of the Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA) and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), the senators warned that Pima County may be unable to support the influx of migrants in April 2024. They noted that New York City received over four times more funding than Arizona.
“Arizona communities have been paying the price for Washington’s failures on the border,” the senators wrote in a statement that acknowledged the state “is experiencing an influx in migration, especially in remote areas of Arizona’s border during extreme weather,” and called on the agencies to rectify “mistakes” in their funding allotment.
The senators noted that New York City received $104.6 million, more than any southwest border state, and said the funding demonstrates “the failure of your agencies to prioritize the border communities that are on the frontlines.” They warned the limited funding will only last many cities, counties, and non-governmental organizations until early 2024.
Specifically, they noted that Pima County has either housed or transported more than 200,000 illegal immigrants since 2019. The senators added that the county “has indicated it will be unable to continue providing migrant services starting in April 2024.” Kelly and Sinema also noted the City of Yuma “was forced to declare a state of emergency twice” because of “the unmanagebale number of migrants released at the border” without help from local authorities.
