Senator spoke with community members about how her bipartisan border security bill would secure the border and give border communities like Douglas the tools needed to manage the crisis
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DOUGLAS – Arizona senior Senator Kyrsten Sinema met with community members in Douglas to discuss how the ongoing border crisis hurts small communities along the border.
Sinema highlighted how the bipartisan border security bill she crafted would secure the border and stop the crisis by ending catch and release, stopping street releases, increasing relief to border communities, disrupting the flow of fentanyl into Arizona, and more.
“As we all know – in Arizona, we cannot afford to ignore the border crisis. We don’t have the luxury of just moving on. We still have a lot of work to do – but you can count on me to always be laser focused on delivering real solutions and fighting for Douglas and all Arizona communities,” said Sinema.
So far this year, over 1,764 migrants have been released into Cochise County – over 10% of the town of Douglas’ entire population, straining what are already limited local resources. Currently, Cochise County relies on funding from the CBP Shelter and Services Program (SSP) to transport migrants who are released into the streets to shelters like Casa Alitas, the primary migrant service provider in the region, in Tucson. However, due to insufficient SSP funding and FEMA’s poor administration of the program, Casa Alitas is winding down migrant service operations – leaving Cochise County vulnerable to even more street releases with less resources to manage them.
Sinema highlighted how her bipartisan border security bill would have avoided such disasters by shutting down the border, stopping street releases, and providing $1.4 billion in SSP funding.
Additionally, Sinema underscored how her border security bill would have solved many of the real challenges Arizona faces as a result of the border crisis – reasserting control of the border, disrupting the flow of fentanyl into the country, ending catch and release, and strengthening and streamlining our asylum system.
The Senator heard from community members about the importance of upgrading and modernizing the Raul H. Castro Land Port of Entry in Douglas, which is crucial for Arizona’s security and economic prosperity. Sinema spoke about how the bipartisan infrastructure law she led through Congress included $216 million to develop a new Douglas Commercial Port of Entry, and $184 million to rehabilitate the existing Raul Hector Castro Port of Entry, to allow Arizona meet the economic and national security challenges of the 21stcentury.