Tucson city leaders have proposed sending thousands of asylum seekers who might otherwise be dropped off on Tucson streets to Phoenix, which has more capacity to provide shelter, transportation and other services. .

City Council members are weighing a variety of questions about how to deal with the thousands of asylum seekers who could be bused to Tucson by U.S. Customs and Border Protection if federal funding runs out at the end of March. proposed an idea. Options included dropping people off at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base or local Border Patrol headquarters, or moving people to Phoenix, where Phoenix was concerned.

Tucson Mayor Regina Romero emphasized the importance of finding a place to drop off asylum seekers wisely and responsibly. “They have the ability to do that,” Romero suggested to Phoenix.

Romero said she and Pima County Board of Supervisors Chair Adelita Grijalva have been “ringing the alarm” about the issue since December. They sent a letter to Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs in January asking for help.

Romero suggested some asylum seekers be moved to Phoenix. Phoenix would have the capacity to provide more social services and more transportation options for people trying to get to other parts of the country while waiting for asylum.

It seemed like a move from Texas Gov. Greg Abbott's political strategy. bus sent Several immigrants who visited Vice President Kamala Harris' official residence in May literally brought the issue right to their doorstep.

The city leaders' conversation at Wednesday's City Council meeting came a day after Pima County leaders met and decided to: stop providing shelter to asylum seekers if federal funds run out.

Federal funding for Pima County's response used to be for 700 people a day, but now it sees more than 1,000 asylum seekers each day.

Local leaders said current federal funding will run out in late March without a new federal budget deal.

Tucson City Councilman Paul Cunningham said what's happening in Southern California is that asylum seekers are being dropped off at bus stops instead of where they can receive assistance. article From CalMatters — It could have happened or could have happened in Tucson. But so far, the response in southern Arizona communities has kept asylum-seekers from being left on the streets.

Pima County Executive Jean Lescher visited the City Council on Wednesday to share an update on the decline in federal funding to protect asylum seekers and provide a deadline for those funds to expire.

He also suggested the involvement of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).

“Think of this as a hurricane,” Lesher said. If a humanitarian crisis of this magnitude were the result of a natural disaster, FEMA would be here with the resources, she said.

Romero expressed frustration with Congress abandoning recent policies. bipartisan immigration reform bill and is not committed to finding long-term solutions or comprehensive approaches to fixing our “broken immigration system.”

“Unfortunately, (the council) is using people as political pawns and refusing to do their jobs,'' the mayor said, raising his voice.

Councilman Steve Kozachik criticized the federal government's inaction and left the matter to Pima County to handle on its own.

“I applaud this community for being proactive, but it's unfortunate that the federal government failed to do their job and left it in our hands,” Kozachik said.

Democrats Kozachik and Cunningham emphasized that the systemic issues of people legally seeking asylum, illegal immigration and homelessness are separate but related issues.

“These are not illegal aliens descending on Tucson,” Kozachik said angrily during Tuesday's Pima County Board of Supervisors meeting. “They are legally processed asylum seekers.”

Lesher said the county has been coordinating local responses such as shelter, transportation, food and other preparedness since April 2019, and the costs are being covered with federal funds.

“It's not appropriate for local tax dollars to go toward what we believe are unique federal issues and concerns,” she said.

Lesher said there was a six-week grace period for funding and service providers have already terminated their contracts. “It would be difficult for her to do this program looking at only one or two weeks at a time,” she said.

City Manager Michael Ortega agreed. He called the reduction in federal funding a stopgap measure and said the real solution is comprehensive immigration reform. Ortega said the city shouldn't spend local tax dollars on the federal immigration system.

“I don't see a path to funding all the initiatives along the lines of what we're talking about,” Ortega said, adding that the cost could be as much as $1 million a week.

this article It first appeared AZ Luminaria Republished here under a Creative Commons license.