Kelly, Sinema Announce Nearly $55 Million in Shelter and Services Program (SSP) Funds for Arizona Communities
Senators secured critical funding to help Arizona border communities and organizations manage the border crisis—preventing street releases and keeping families safe
Arizona Senators Mark Kelly and Kyrsten Sinema announced nearly $55 million in Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Shelter and Services Program (SSP) funds to support Arizona communities managing the ongoing border crisis.
Last month, Kelly and Sinema announced that they secured $650 million for SSP for the remaining fiscal year, and sent a letter to the administration to quickly allocate the funds to support Arizona communities.
Pima County will receive $21,827,581; Maricopa County will receive $11,606,329; World Hunger in Maricopa will receive $11,606,329; and World Hunger in Yuma will receive $9,532,854.
“Arizona’s local governments and nonprofits are on the frontlines doing the vital work that keeps asylum seekers and communities safe, and this funding will help them continue operations and support our border communities,” said Kelly. “Senator Sinema and I fought for these resources, and we’ll continue demanding the federal government prioritize communities at the border.”
“Today’s funds will help Arizona border nonprofits keep their doors open – preventing street releases and providing humane treatment of migrants seeking asylum,” said Sinema, Chair of the Senate Border Management Subcommittee and a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee.
In the Fiscal Year 2023 appropriations bill, Kelly and Sinema secured $800 million to create the new CBP SSP to help cover the costs incurred by local governments and non-governmental organizations to manage migrant encounters at the border. Instead of prioritizing Southwest border communities with this funding, which was specifically authorized by Congress to assist border communities that are directly affected by the border crisis, the administration awarded more money to East Coast cities than to the entire state of Arizona.
In February, Kelly and Sinema sent a letter to the leaders of the House and Senate Appropriations Committees urging them to allocate sufficient SSP funding—noting that, without additional funding, organizations managing the fallout of the border crisis would’ve been forced to cease operations, increasing the likelihood of migrants being released without shelter or support into the streets of local Arizona communities.
SSP funds are used to reimburse local governments and nonprofits who provide shelter, food, transportation, and support services to asylum seekers arriving at Arizona’s southern border. In December, Kelly and Sinema urged the Department of Homeland Security to distribute additional SSP funding to border communities in Arizona and criticized the failure to prioritize border states for SSP funds. Later, Kelly and Sinema secured approval from the Administration to allow Pima County to use its FY 2022 Emergency Food and Shelter Program – Humanitarian (EFSP-H) funds.
