Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (I-AZ) lambasted the Biden administration on Friday as “outrageous” and “ridiculous” for failing to allocate sufficient funds to humanitarian organizations on the Arizona-Mexico border dealing with the migrant crisis.
“The government has shown a real inability to respond in real-time to the change in the patterns,” Sinema said, adding that the Biden administration has “completely shortchanged Arizona border communities” that are experiencing fluctuations in where migrants cross into the U.S.
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In July, Border Patrol’s Tucson sector set a 15-year high for migrant encounters, making it the busiest along the Southwest border.
Arizona citizens, in particular, are frustrated with the insufficiency of the Shelter and Service Program, which provides federal assistance to social work organizations that assist migrants.
Under the prior apparatus, called the Emergency Food and Shelter Program, federal money for the migrant crisis was limited to border towns, but dollars under the SSP program are now being spread across the entire country.
New York City, which has received more than any border town under the SSP, has been given $106.8 million in funding, compared to the $56 million to be shared across state governments and non-profits in the four states that border Mexico.
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Sinema told reporters that the lack of funding for humanitarian services along the southern border is creating a dangerous situation for both migrants and Arizonan communities as social workers and volunteers struggle to do their jobs with decreased levels of public support.
Sinema said she is working to get more funding from the administration that is “adequate to actually meet the needs of the border communities that are actually meeting the challenge.”
