U.S. House Appropriations Committee Ranking Member Kay Granger (R-TX) on June 5 agreed with U.S. Rep. Will Hurd (R-TX) that America’s immigration catastrophe with southern neighbors has reached a turning point and more federal funding is needed to support local communities.
“The crisis at our Southern border is overwhelming our agencies and localities and the situation is only getting worse,” Rep. Granger said in a statement last week. “I agree with my colleague — we must act now to provide the funds needed to address the humanitarian and security crisis.”
Rep. Granger responded to a May 24 bipartisan letter that she and House appropriators received from Rep. Hurd and 11 other members seeking federal reimbursement for expenses incurred by local governments assisting with the ongoing humanitarian crisis at the nation’s southern border.
Reps. Hurd and Henry Cuellar (D-TX) and their colleagues requested funds be authorized to state and local Federal Emergency Management Agency programs and then used to reimburse cities, counties and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in their efforts to handle the ongoing flood of migrants.
“Our Texas communities should not be forced to shoulder the costs of dealing with the humanitarian crisis at our southern border,” Rep. Hurd said last month. “That’s why I am asking the federal government to do what’s right and reimburse our taxpayers.”
According to the letter from Rep. Hurd and his colleagues, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security lacks human resources and has released “groups of several hundred individuals without notice to NGOs or local governments.”
“This places an enormous strain on border communities and forces them to hastily create makeshift shelters, round up volunteers and emergency aid, and assist migrants to coordinate travel plans to their destinations,” the lawmakers wrote.
Local communities “should not have to bear the brunt of flawed policies at the border and must be fully compensated both for their humane response and for the security of our citizens,” they wrote.