Tucson Sector continues to have the highest number of migrants crossing, and by far the highest number of families and children, even as the total number of migrant apprehensions at the southern border dropped slightly from the previous month.
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.
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.
Congressional leaders unveiled a spending package with $650 million for short-term asylum services like Casa Alitas in Tucson. However, approval and allocation may come too late to avoid street releases.
The number of Mexican families crossing the U.S.-Mexico border grew nationwide in 2023, but nowhere is that more true than in Arizona’s Tucson Sector where the number of Mexican people in a family grew from 8,500 in 2022 to more than 120-thousand.
New data shows that December was a record for the number of times Border Patrol apprehended migrants entering the US unauthorized, with the highest number being in the Tucson Sector at more than 80,000 apprehensions.
Sen. Kyrsten Sinema says details on border-foreign aid package likely out next week and will include funding for migrant services such as Tucson’s Casa Alitas, a quicker process for asylum claims and changes to manage large groups arriving at the border.
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.
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.
Migrant aide workers from Tucson and throughout Arizona met with Sen. Kyrsten Sinema Friday to discuss funding issues to assist the ongoing multitude of migrants coming through the southern border.
A report released by the Government Accountability Office offers the first independent assessment of damage caused by the building of more than 450 miles of wall.
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