Pima County is getting new federal funding to provide medical care, temporary protection and transportation to asylum seekers and immigrants released by the Arizona Border Patrol.

Pima County has provided assistance to thousands of people who have been able to enter the United States and begin the legal asylum process. But federal funding for the effort was drying up.

Tucson City Councilman Steve Kozachik said the county is trying to cut costs.

The reality is that there are some costs that are relatively fixed and over which we have no control. What we can't really control is when the numbers have accelerated over the past few months.

Kozachik said costs such as food and transportation are expensive and unlikely to change. He said seven or eight buses carrying asylum seekers and immigrants arrive at the Casa Alitas shelter in Tucson every day. They will stay with him for a day or two before joining family and friends elsewhere in the United States.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency approved an additional $5.2 million in funding for the county to continue these services.