But the film only targets specific complaints at the Senate Majority Leader Chuck SchumerHouse Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffreys and the Biden administration.
The Yuma, Ariz., cinema said earlier this month He is “enthusiastic” about his state’s treatment, singling out Schumer and Jeffries for sending border money to their state. He expanded on his anger in a lengthy interview with POLITICO, explaining that “it’s important for people to know” why New York swept Arizona.
“This is very obvious. I don’t know if you noticed, but the announcement of that $104 million first came out in a joint press release from Schumer and Jeffries — not from the White House or from FEMA. It was first broken by their press release,” Sinema said, referring to the size of the pot awarded to New York. .
With a hint of sarcasm, she added: “Now, how did that happen?”
The funding dispute is complex and multifaceted, pitting Cinema and his Democratic border-state colleagues against the influence New York’s two congressional Democrats wield within the Biden administration. It further reinforces the image the movie was trying to create, of an unorthodox legislator willing to defy leaders of both parties as he contemplates another term.
Cinema votes more often with Democrats than Chennai. Joe Manchin (DW.Va.), but he left the party last year and has not attended its caucus meetings. That has created awkward questions about whether he will run again in a three-way race against Calico next fall, and whether Trump-pro-Carry will polarize Lake, whichever Republican wins the primary.
New York sees the money as critical to managing the large numbers of immigrants flocking to the five boroughs, but its large cash holdings could complicate the path to allowing more money during government funding negotiations this fall. The Biden administration has requested More border money in its latest call for emergency spending, including $600 million to ease overcrowding in shelters.
“Now that one year’s worth of this fund has gone to the interior of the country and not to the border communities, the lift to get another tranche of this fund — to get it approved — is higher than ever,” Sinema said. Interview. “Just to be clear: It was very heavy in December.”
The administration received more financial demands from border and interior communities than it could fulfill. A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security said $75 million remains and will be announced in the future, but “only Congress can provide additional funding, the administration has requested, and only Congress can fix our broken immigration system.”
Cinema and her sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) behind the scenes in December when Senate Republicans signed off on nearly $800 million in border money that lawmakers in both parties assumed would go to states on the immigration front. Many Republicans opposed shelter funding for DHS, concerned that it would give the Biden administration more money to implement policies they don’t support.
The two senators argued to colleagues that “small border towns in southern Texas and southern Arizona are vulnerable communities” and recalled the nonprofits and churches in those states. Cornyn declined to comment.
Ultimately, the Biden administration will have to decide the specifics of the border relief. There was little grumbling when the first tranche of money came out earlier this year.
But when the second installment came out and sent more than $100 million to New York, Cinema said he told DHS and White House officials: “This is outrageous, how is this happening?” In the interview, he called this decision. “Deeply, deeply wrong.”
“This administration has worked since day one to create a safe, orderly and humane immigration system, and we have led the way in the largest expansion of legal pathways to immigration in decades,” a White House spokesman said. “We are committed to our continued partnership with border communities to ensure they receive the support they need.”
In their June press release, Schumer and Jeffries put New York City’s needs “front and center,” describing the state’s $104.6 million as “the largest share of federal dollars released through the new shelter services program we’ve created.” No top Democrats responded to this story.
Cinema Five border-state Senate Democrats joined Condemning the administration’s decision-making in June created a nasty internal debate that undermined party unity.
“We have this funding to reduce the burden on border communities and Customs and Border Protection facilities in our border states,” said Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) said in a statement. “The administration ignored this when it gave New York City significantly more funding than border communities. This decision is wrong,” he said.
Sinema is undecided about running for re-election; Gallego is running as a Democrat and focuses some of his political attacks on his conservative politics. Even so, some topics transcend ideology: Gallego’s He is waging his own fight for migrant money “I will continue to fight to right this injustice,” he said in a statement.
“FEMA’s decision to divert resources from Arizona is an insult to border communities who are on the front lines of the border crisis and bearing the brunt of CBP decompression,” Gallego said, citing statistics showing more than 1,000 crossings daily in Tucson.
Recommended by New York City Mayor Eric Adams His city, which is legally required to house immigrants by city law, can spend $12 billion to care for them. Democrats in the state believe its status as an international destination for immigrants puts more pressure on its shelter system than widely understood, said a person familiar with the delegation’s position, who spoke on condition of anonymity. What’s more, some Republican governors have sent immigrants to large, Democratic-controlled cities.
Cinema does not deny that New York struggles with its own burdens. However, he countered that there is a big difference between the Big Apple and the small towns along the border of Arizona and Texas.
“There seems to be a lack of understanding of what the experience is like in border communities, and a willingness to interfere with work in those communities without realizing the impact it has on the whole system,” Sinema said. “It’s very frustrating.”
