The county board of overseers voted 4-1 on Tuesday to provide Catholic Community Services in Southern Arizona with a hospitality center for temporary respite and services to legal asylum seekers and other nations in the United States. Arrangements were made for eventual transport to family and sponsors on location.

Supervisor Steve Christie voted against the bill. He was also the only supervisor to vote against the meeting on another agenda item related to asylum seekers.

The latter item is an updated contract for a hotel shelter service that provides rooms for asylum seekers with COVID who need to be quarantined. The renewed contract cost $2.2 million, totaling about $13 million the county allocated for its purpose, all of which was covered or reimbursed by grants from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

The new location on Drexel Road will add to the immigration services offered at the Casa Aritas Welcome Center near South Kino Parkway and Ajo Way, operated by Catholic Community Services. The county has allocated approximately $418,000 for non-lease costs associated with Drexel Space, which will also be reimbursed through her FEMA humanitarian grant.

Services include temporary rest, meals, hygiene products, baby items, shower facilities, change of clothes, assistance in contacting family members and Sponsors in the United States, and transportation arrangements to leave Tucson to visit Sponsors. included.

The county leases land in Drexel, which includes the building and its accompanying fenced parking lot and outdoor space. Part of that space is geared to provide humanitarian services to immigrants.

When Casa Aritas was at capacity, the county had contracts with hotels to provide these services, but the Drexel location offers a more stable location, officials say.

Using hotels for this purpose was a system that was quickly put together when there was a surge in asylum seekers. A county spokesman said the county could find itself in a situation of limited bed space if a surge in asylum seekers occurs while there are many visitors in need of space. Mark Evans. In the new space, county officials know there is a designated bed space.

Pima County saw a record surge in immigration at the end of 2022, with border officials releasing about 12,000 in November and more than 15,000 in need of immigration services in Pima County in December. About a quarter of them were diverted to immigration services in Phoenix.

During the surge, Pima County officials were unsure if there would be space to accommodate all asylum seekers in need of services.

“It was very stressful,” Evans said. “Not only were all county hotels and casa his Aritas in full occupancy, but also the city contracted hotels were in full occupancy. , it was hourly, sometimes.

Those numbers dropped to about 4,900 and 6,900 in January and February, respectively, with approximately 350 asylum seekers being served daily through Catholic Community Services in Southern Arizona for the past two weeks.

Pima County has spent more than $23 million on immigration services since the summer of 2019, covered by FEMA’s Emergency Food and Shelter Program. A recent federal spending bill included about $800 million for the program to spread nationwide to cities and jurisdictions that serve immigration.

The county has about $10 million in the current grant period ending March 31st. April and he receive June’s grant and continue to seek additional funding.