Pima County is receiving nearly $22 million in federal funding to continue services to asylum seekers, who come to Tucson and smaller border communities after being released by Border Patrol.
Pima County expects to receive at least 12 million dollars in federal funding from the recent Homeland Security appropriations bill to continue services to asylum seekers through August, after coming dangerously close to having to turn people away.
County will avoid street releases at the end of the week, anticipating federal funding from the $650 million, in the border security funding bill, for shelter and services to asylum seekers.
Pima County is discontinuing contracts for services to the more than 2,500 asylum seekers a day, who have been released by Border Patrol. Federal dollars are running out as Congress has yet to agree on more funding for border communities.
Pima County continues to warn of pending street releases if Congress doesn’t allot more money for migrant services, even as officials opened the Lukeville port of entry yesterday due to a drop in unauthorized border crossings outside of ports.
As the number of migrants continues to surge at the U.S.-Mexico border in Arizona, Pima County worries whether they’ll keep up, serving well over 1,000 people a day for weeks.
Pima County officials express growing concern as the influx of asylum seekers continues while federal funding decreases, raising fears of potential street releases due to funding shortages by May.
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