Senators Cinema and Lankford encouraged greater coordination and cooperation and called for the federal government to do its job
Tucson – Arizona Senior Senator Kirsten Sinema (Border Control Subcommittee Chair) and ranking member James Lankford (ROK, Oklahoma) discuss the final security and humanitarian crisis on the post-term Southwest border. Led a roundtable discussion with local community leaders on the front lines. of title 42.
The senators’ roundtable and visit to the Southwest border follows the end of Title 42. During the debate, senators highlighted the impact of the border crisis on local communities, including operational challenges when small communities have to manage immigration release on their own. On May 11 and 12, Border Patrol facilities were overwhelmed, forcing the release of a small community of migrants, including more than 100 migrants from Nogales. Local leaders across the state intervened to prevent a humanitarian and security disaster. Senators said these communities should not have been put in this position, and that the crisis was caused by a federal failure at the border, and therefore it is the federal government’s responsibility to manage. emphasized that there is
“Transportation and shelter are still limited, and labor shortages are straining operations. Frontline Arizonans should not be expected to work for the federal government,” said the Border Control Subcommittee. Cinema Commissioner said.
Participants in the roundtable discussion included Teresa Cavendish, Director of Operations for Southern Arizona Catholic Community Services. Jan Lecher, Pima County Administrator. Steve Holmes, Pima County Deputy Administrator. Shane Clark, Pima County Emergency Management Agency. Regina Kelly, Pima County Office of Grants Management and Innovation, Nogales Mayor Jorge Maldonado. Genesis Kuviras, Policy Advisor to the Tucson Mayor’s Office. Claire Mark, Nogales US Consulate. Mr. Danette Boley, Mr. Austin Smith, and Mr. Bruce Goetz of the Tucson Airport Authority.
Towards the end of Title 42, Cinema had regular meetings with Arizona border officials in preparation. A week before power expires, Cinema has secured over $45.4 million through emergency food and shelter programs to help nonprofits and communities on the frontlines of border and migration crises provide critical assistance to migrants bottom. Limit street releases, keep Arizona families safe, and ensure immigrants are treated fairly and humanely.
Cinema and Lankford’s trip to Tucson is the latest in a series of visits to the border. In January, Cinema led the largest bipartisan delegation of U.S. Senators in memory to the southwestern border between El Paso, Texas and Yuma, Arizona, and witnessed what communities in the Arizona border area experience every day. We have witnessed firsthand the ongoing humanitarian and security crises. Last month, Cinema led a congressional delegation to the southwestern border near Naco to continue to focus on a bipartisan and lasting solution to the border crisis.
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