Sen. Kyrsten Sinema and other lawmakers in Washington say a federal program that funds asylum seeker and migrant care in Arizona and elsewhere is still vastly underfunded.
FEMA’s Shelter and Services Program funds local programs like Tucson’s Casa Alitas. The facility provides food, transportation and shelter services to migrants released by the Border Patrol.
But that operation and others have been brought to the brink several times in recent months.
In a letter to congressional leaders this week, Sinema and other lawmakers say the program should get no less than $3 billion in funding. They say more funding remains vital — especially as capacity issues at the federal level have put local nonprofits at the helm of responding to asylum seeker arrivals.
FEMA’s was last given an allotment of $650 million earlier this year.
