Senators pledge bipartisan response to crisis at the southwest border
WASHINGTON – Arizona senior Senator Kyrsten Sinema—Chair of the Senate Subcommittee on Border Management—and Republican Senator John Cornyn (Texas) wrote a letter calling on the administration to address the surge in migrants at the southern border and reaffirming their commitment to work on bipartisan legislation to help solve this crisis.
The Senators wrote, “We write to urge you to use your full authorities to effectively respond to and successfully manage the ongoing crisis at our Southwest Border. It is critical that our nation take aggressive steps to secure our border, protect our communities and ensure migrants are treated fairly and humanely. We pledge to work with our Congressional colleagues to develop bipartisan and commonsense responses to the surge of migrants at the border, and hope to collaborate with you, Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, and the rest of your Administration to tackle this challenge.”
“Our border communities and NGOs are already rising to this challenge. It is important that the federal government do so as well. We cannot afford to be consumed by partisan battles on this critical topic. We will continue to seek bipartisan agreement with you and our colleagues to develop common-sense solutions that improve the situation on our border and keep our communities safe.”
The full text of the letter can be found HERE.
As Chair of the Subcommittee on Border Management, Sinema is working directly with federal agencies and leaders in Arizona to ensure the administration takes meaningful steps to support Arizona’s border communities and NGOs, secure the border, prevent the spread of COVID-19, and treat all migrants and unaccompanied children fairly and humanely. Sinema has partnered with Senator Mark Kelly to ensure the Department of Homeland Security has plans and procedures to support our border communities and protect migrants seeking refuge.
Sinema also worked to include $110 million in funding in the American Rescue Package that is now law for border communities and non-profits stepping up to help solve the migrant crisis. The resources will directly help border communities address the situation at the border, including to stop the spread of COVID-19, protect Arizonans, and ensure migrants are treated fairly and humanely.