While the county is working with federal partners, “May 11th is a pretty scary day for some of us,” county administrator Jean Lescher said at a meeting Tuesday on the issue of Title 42. He told the oversight board amid discussions about the termination.

Title 42 was enacted early in the pandemic to allow the federal government to expel some immigrants from the country immediately. It is set to end on the 11th of the month.

The average daily number of immigrants entering Pima County ranged from 224 to 770 throughout 2022, but Border Patrol officials expect numbers to rise from 1,200 to 1,500 per day when Title 42 ends. We estimate that it will be

“The philosophy that drives everything we do now is that we say we don’t do street releases in this community. It means we intend to provide a service of sorts,” Lesher said.

This means more travel from locations such as the Nogales Immigration and Border Patrol Processing Center on the East Los Reales Road to the Casa Aritas Welcome Center, operated by Catholic Community Services. The county also coordinates transportation from the Welcome Center to Phoenix Immigrant Shelter Services.

Asylum seekers typically stay in Tucson shelters for a few days. This is enough time to arrange transportation to another city where you can live with relatives and friends while your asylum application is processed.

Pima County Emergency Management Director Shane Clark has been working closely with federal and state officials to coordinate the county’s response to the end of Title 42. According to his latest weekly report, 2,556 asylum seekers were released from Pima County Border Patrol custody from April 20 to he was released from Pima County Border Patrol custody on April 26, an average of 365 per day. That number included 1,127 single adults and 508 families.

Even while Title 42 was in force, the county was “dangerously close” to liberation on the streets, but could find shelter for asylum seekers in hotel rooms. , the county is ready for May 11, said Lesher.

In preparation for the end of Title 42, the county has partnered with Catholic Community Services to accommodate immigrants by leasing a new location on the south side of Tucson on West Drexel Road near Interstate 19, which can accommodate approximately 400 people. bottom. In addition to the Casa Aritas Welcome Center and the Drexel Site, the county uses three hotels to accommodate immigrants as needed.

“Take the Drexel facility as an example … In reality, you may have 150 or 300 cribs, but you can’t hold as many as you need to hold at any given time, such as people sleeping on the floor. That’s certainly not what we want,” Lescher told the board on Tuesday.

But as the county prepares for an increase in the number of people coming across the border in the coming weeks, the situation has led to calls from county officials and oversight boards on the paradoxical issue of local governments taking on federal duties. Released my concerns.

Pima County “is fully aware that comprehensive immigration reform is elusive. and take care of asylum-seekers in the United States.It should be a federal government function.”

Pima County has been providing care to asylum seekers since 2019 when Catholic Community Services helped set up a temporary shelter, Garcia said. At the time, the county thought the engagement would last “only a month or two.”

Instead, county procurement and vehicle services staff still spend significant time securing asylum care contracts and arranging transportation services instead of focusing on county-specific programs. Garcia said the federal funding mechanism for providing the service is also an obstacle.

Since the summer of 2019, Pima County has spent more than $23 million on immigration services using funds from the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Emergency Food and Shelter Program. However, funding strategies prevent the county from planning more than three months for her at a time.

Lesher said the county knew it had federal money to look after asylum seekers until June, and said, “We guarantee that we’ll get the money from the federal government, but we don’t have enough money in our checking accounts.” It is not included in the

“It’s a federally unique program, and in effect we’re doing some of the work for the federal government,” she said. .”

The county gave most of its federal funding to Catholic Community Services to provide assistance and shelter, and subcontracted with the City of Tucson to provide staffing and hotel capacity to receive asylum seekers. I’m in.

Supervisor Steve Christie blamed the county’s willingness to help asylum seekers as part of the reason for its current position.

“We were a welcome center because we welcomed federal funding,” he said. “Now, for many of us who have made clear calls over the years that this is a problem, … now I feel a sense of legitimacy and relief that the administration of Pima County is finally here. I have to say yes, and I admit we have a crisis.”

Supervisor Adelita Grijalva said it was in the county’s best interest to intervene in 2019, noting that border guards released immigrants in the idiots without warning local authorities or nonprofits.

“I think we were just trying to make the best of this situation to ensure the safety of the entire community,” she said.

Garcia told the board that it will return to stricter processing conditions under the next transition. Title 8 Immigration Law This could be positive for the county’s ability to manage the end of Title 42. Under this rule, he barred immigrants from re-entering the United States for five years if they did not enter the United States legally through customs clearance. Migrants in central and northern Mexico are asked to schedule an appointment for an asylum claim using the mobile application CBPOne.

Homeland Security also said it would open regional processing centers in Colombia and Guatemala to “facilitate safe, orderly, humane, and legal pathways from the Americas.” Fact sheet from department.

“From a policy perspective, I think helping asylum seekers get as close as possible to where they are is really important in achieving a reasonable asylum policy,” Garcia said.

The Biden administration has confirmed it will deploy 1,500 active-duty troops to the Southwest border to help Border Patrol handle more migrants entering the country.

“I think we will be better served in the next couple of months. What happens on May 12th is a challenge for us. We all need to be vigilant and concerned.” said Garcia. “Our goal is to ensure the safety and security of people throughout Pima County by helping these asylum seekers.