Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas is testifying this week before a Congressional Senate committee on homeland security and government affairs.
Senators questioned Mayorkas about various border issues including the number of migrants arriving and the growing backlog of asylum cases.
Sen. Kyrsten Sinema renewed her calls for more federal funding for border communities. Especially as Customs and Border Protection resumes so-called "street releases" of migrants into small towns, rather than coordinating to get them to transport hubs.
"In Bisbee, a town of about 5000 people without bus service to either Tucson or Phoenix, local leaders turned the City Council chambers into an emergency shelter, so that migrants would no longer be dumped in a grocery store parking lot," she said.
Mayorkas told Sinema border apprehensions were down for some nationalities, like Venezuelans, after new deportation deals. He also cited Biden’s multibillion-dollar funding request to increase federal staffing at the border.
Aid groups and communities can get reimbursed for their efforts from FEMA. But Sinema said many are struggling to keep up with the demand, while maintaining a standard for counting and caring for migrants. Other lawmakers including Rep. Ruben Gallego have asked FEMA to increase its allotmentof funding in Arizona.
