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.
The case in Nogales, Arizona, has attracted national attention as border security becomes an increasingly important issue in this year’s presidential contest.
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.
Friday was opening arguments in the trial of George Alan Kelly, the 75-year-old rancher being charged in the shooting death of a Mexican citizen, who prosecutors say was on Kelly’s property while crossing the U.S.-Mexico border undocumented.
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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 Reclaiming the Border Narrative digital archive is a collaboration meant to tell the story of the border through the eyes of people who live there.
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.
People seeking the release of migrants detained for crossing the border have paid more than 2 billion dollars in bonds since 2017. A recent report shows that collectively the highest amount paid was in Eloy, Arizona.
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