BREAKING: Kelly, Sinema Announce Pima County Permitted to Fully Use its 2022 Emergency Food and Shelter Program Funds

Senators urged the Secretary of Homeland Security to allow Pima County the full use of its EFSP funds 

Arizona Senators Mark Kelly and Kyrsten Sinema released the following statement after successfully securing approval from the Administration to allow Pima County to use its 2022 Emergency Food and Shelter Program (EFSP) Funds. 

“As we’ve faced this border crisis, Pima County has gone above and beyond to assist with an unprecedented number of asylum seekers in Arizona. After several personal calls and meetings with the Secretary of Homeland Security and the Chair of the EFSP Board, we were finally able to unlock this funding that Pima County needs. It’s unfair for this burden to fall on Arizona communities, and I won’t stop fighting until we have a secure, humane, and fair process at the border,” said Kelly.  

“I’m proud to fight for Pima County and secure its ability to use its remaining EFSP funds to manage a crisis it did not create. From the beginning, the Administration should not have rejected Pima County’s repeated requests to use its remaining EFSP award to keep Arizonans safe and treat migrants fairly and humanely – it demonstrated an unfair approach and lack of understanding of what Arizona border communities endure every day due to Washington’s continued inaction,” said Sinema. 

Background:  

Recently, both Senators urged the Emergency Food and Shelter Program National Board to approve Pima County’s application to use its remaining 2022 EFSP funds. In a separate letter, Kelly and Sinema also urged the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to allocate Shelter and Services Program funding from 2023’s Continuing Resolutions.