The Pima County Board of Supervisors held its first meeting of the year Tuesday and touched on what’s next for county efforts along the border.
This was the first meeting that included the board’s newly-appointed District 3 Representative Sylvia Lee — who took over the helm of the border-hugging district at the end of last year.
According to a report prepared for the board, the Border Patrol’s Tucson Sector saw record numbers of asylum seekers and migrants at the end of last month.
Aid workers in Tucson were seeing around 1,300 people per day at the Casa Alitas Welcome Center, which serves as a temporary shelter where migrants receive medical screenings and other aid after being released to await immigration hearings in the U.S.
Asylum seekers were also released without the help of aid groups in other Arizona cities, like Nogales.
So far, no one has been turned away in Tucson, but the report warns that could change without additional federal funding.
