Sinema heard directly from frontline agents working to protect Arizona communities and mitigate the ongoing border crisis
YUMA – Arizona senior Senator Kyrsten Sinema convened a roundtable discussion with the Border Patrol Council in Yuma to hear directly from agents on the frontlines of the ongoing border crisis in Arizona and discuss steps she’s taking as Chair of the Border Management Subcommittee to secure the border, protect Arizona communities, and treat migrants fairly and humanely.
“Communities like Yuma pay the price for the federal government’s failure to fix our broken immigration system. I’m grateful to hear from frontline agents about the challenges they’re facing, and how I can continue partnering with them to ensure we secure the border and treat migrants fairly and humanely,” said Sinema, Chair of the Border Management Subcommittee.
During the discussion, border patrol agents shared that the Yuma Sector has been one of the busiest sectors for migrants crossing over the past several months, and offered their perspectives as Sinema pledged to continue working to respond to the crisis.
Sinema led the bipartisan Southwest Border Security Technology Improvement Act—which was signed into law in December 2020—to improve how the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) deploys technology along the border by assessing and filling technology gaps. Sinema also led Senators Mark Kelly (Ariz.), Martin Heinrich, and Ben Ray Luján (NM) requesting that President Biden include robust funding for border security technology in the FY23 President’s Budget request for DHS.
Last year, Sinema partnered with Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) to introduce their Bipartisan Border Solutions Act—legislation that improves the federal government’s response to the border crisis, reduces the impact on local border communities, and ensures migrants are treated fairly and humanely.
Sinema recently sponsored and led passage of the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs law, which includes $152.4 million to fund the second half of the San Luis Port of Entry upgrade project, as well as $237.6 million for a new commercial land port of entry in Douglas and $202.5 million for modernization of all existing structures and expanding processing capacity at the existing Raul Hector Castro Port of Entry.
For more pictures of the event, click HERE.