Senators Kelly and Sinema urge allocation of additional border funds to Arizona

Counties such as Pima, Maricopa, and Yuma anticipate they're unable to provide services starting early next year due to insufficient funding 

(KYMA, KECY) - Arizona Senators Mark Kelly and Kyrsten Sinema sent a letter to the government and urged them to allocate additional funds to border communities as the state faces a crisis after the closure of the Lukeville Port of Entry.

Kelly and Sinema sent a letter to DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell, and CBP Acting Commissioner Troy A. Miller.

They asked to allocate additional Shelter and Services Program funds passed by Congress to border communities in Southern Arizona.

The press release said that in the letter, the Senators highlighted the important role of nonprofits and local governments in the state that help authorities manage the crisis.

The letter also mentioned how they had not been prioritized when previous Shelter and Services Program funds were allocated.

“In the last few months, there has been a sharp increase in the number of migrants arriving at the Arizona-Mexico border via the Border Patrol Tucson Sector in the Lukeville, Arizona area, overwhelming Border Patrol’s ability to manage the surge,” said Senators Kelly and Sinema.

“We urge your agencies to take immediate steps to allocate additional SSP funding to the border communities that need it most—as Congress intended—to keep our communities and migrants safe. We call for your swift action to avoid the disruption of humanitarian services that would only worsen the unmitigated disaster on the border,” said the Senators.

They are requesting an update no later than December 22, 2023.

You can read the full letter here.