Infrastructure bill includes $3.85 billion in funding to modernize Land Ports of Entry, improving border security
SAN LUIS – Arizona senior Senator Kyrsten Sinema visited the San Luis Port of Entry to highlight the critical port infrastructure investments included in the Sinema-led bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. Sinema also received a briefing from Customs and Border Protection (CBP) leadership on current challenges at the border and the agency’s efforts to keep Arizona safe and secure.
“Our bipartisan infrastructure legislation makes critical investments strengthening our ports of entry, boosting trade and transportation, and helping address security and management challenges. We’re grateful to CBP for keeping Arizona communities safe and secure, while ensuring migrants are treated fairly and humanely,” said Sinema, Chair of the Senate Border Management Subcommittee.
Sinema led efforts to include $3.85 billion in funding to modernize Land Ports of Entry in her Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, which recently passed the Senate 69-30. These critical resources will improve border security across the nation and provide a direct impact in Arizona with the Douglas and San Luis port projects slated to receive funding.
In July, Sinema and U.S. Representatives Juan Vargas (CA-51) and Scott Peters (CA-52) toured the San Ysidro Port of Entry and visited Jewish Family Service—a non-governmental organization assisting migrants released by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Sinema, Vargas, and Peters heard firsthand the challenges facing the CBP and nonprofit organizations assisting migrants. Sinema also recently toured CBP facilities and the non-governmental organization Casa Alitas in Tucson with Republican Senator John Cornyn (Texas). The Senators later toured the CBP soft sided McAllen facility and the Health & Human Services Department’s Delphi facility in Texas. Sinema’s visits helped inform her policy work on border issues, including official CBP operations, ports of entry, and nongovernmental organizations across Arizona, Texas, and California.
Earlier this year, Sinema and Cornyn introduced the bipartisan, bicameral Bipartisan Border Solutions Act to help address the crisis at the southern border.
In February, Sinema and Arizona Senator Mark Kelly called on the administration to include robust funding for Arizona’s ports of entry. The Senators specifically called for funding for Arizona’s San Luis I Port of Entry modernization project, the construction of a new Commercial Port of Entry and the update of the Raul H. Castro Post of Entry in Douglas, AZ, and an update to the DeConcini Port of Entry in Nogales, AZ.
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