TUCSON, Ariz. (13 News) – Pima County Executive Jan Lesher said: memo Directs all departments and outside agencies involved in feeding, housing, and transporting asylum seekers to develop contingency plans in the event federal funds are depleted.

A bipartisan agreement was reached in the U.S. Senate that would provide funding for the county's efforts. It looks dead at this point.

Pima County spends $1 million a week in federal funds from FEMA and other agencies to feed and transport asylum seekers.

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It's unclear what will happen if this funding is stopped, but the county needs a plan to avoid human and economic catastrophe.

“At the end of the day, if Congress doesn't do its job, no one at the state or local level will do their job,” Ben Johnson said. American Immigration Lawyers Association.

Its job is to provide funding to local border communities so they can provide food, shelter and transportation to asylum seekers. In a memo released by Lescher, she drew a red line beyond which federal funding would end in April.

Without another source of funding, that responsibility would fall on the shoulders of counties if they so choose.

“Honestly, they're not going to be able to do this forever on their own,” Johnson said. “It will require support from Congress, partnerships and federal funding.”

Thanks to funding from Congress, the county will be able to spend $1 million a week to meet the needs of the 1,300 asylum seekers who come to the Tucson area every day.

This is one of the busiest sectors, if not the busiest, on the entire 1,200-mile border.

If funding dries up, street releases could occur in places like Douglas, Nogales and even Tucson. That's a recipe for chaos.

“Putting people on the street and telling them to find their own shelter, food and resources is a disturbing and inhumane response,” he said.

That's why Lesher released a memo saying every department and every local organization working on border issues needs to put together contingency plans for what they can do if funding runs out.

We asked what those emergencies were and received the following text from Catholic Community Services on Monday: “No one will say anything until a press release is issued later this week. We all need time to work things out.”

The county communications department released the following statement:

“The Pima County Board of Supervisors and County Administrator Jan Lesher remain hopeful that Congress and the Biden administration can reach an agreement on U.S. border and immigration laws, but the county and its temporary shelter coalition Partners have begun planning for the impending exhaustion of federal reimbursements.''Funding capacity is expected to emerge in early to mid-April. The county, city of Tucson, Catholic Community Services, and other members of the coalition will provide some protection and travel assistance to legally processed asylum seekers released onto the city's streets by Customs and Border Protection. We continue to strive to do everything possible to But the lack of additional federal funding limits the options available to the coalition. County administrators are expected to update the board soon on the relief plan being considered. ”

“There are many ways to make this better than it is now, but Congress must first do the work of funding and making new policy changes that can make this system faster, fairer, and avoid things like this. It starts with “the amount of street discharge that all communities should strive to avoid.” '' said Johnson.

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