Gallego Urges FEMA to Fix Burdensome Requirement That Could Cost Border Communities Funding
WASHINGTON, DC – Today, Rep. Ruben Gallego (AZ-03), sent a letter to Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Administrator Deanne Criswell urging the Agency to fix a new documentation requirement that strains border communities and non-profits in Arizona, putting their funding at risk.
Future rounds of funding under the Shelter and Services Program (SSP) will require local agencies to submit the unique A-number for each migrant they assist in order to qualify for reimbursement for associated costs. Each non-citizen migrant entering the United States is assigned an A-number by the Department of Homeland Security.
As Gallego states in the letter: “While this will not be an issue for most migrants, there will be some who do not arrive with their A-numbers, for reasons including clerical errors, lost papers, or damaged paper information packets. If a local community processes a large group of people without A-numbers, it could cost them thousands of dollars and put their operations at risk.”
To avoid this damaging situation, Gallego urged FEMA to:
- Create an allowance for a 3-5% margin of error in A-number reporting;
- Remove the A-number reporting requirement; OR
- Mandate internal information sharing between CBP and FEMA so that information aside from A-numbers can be used to verify migrant populations.
Gallego concludes: “Arizona’s border communities have been unfairly burdened with the immense financial costs of this national crisis and to require additional reimbursement conditions is unacceptable. Arizona was the only border state with zero street releases last year, and I fear this overly burdensome A-number requirement puts that record at risk.”
This is the third letter Gallego has sent to FEMA regarding issues with SSP. In June, he sent a first letter to FEMA arguing that border states like Arizona need more funding to address border crossings and provide services. He called the FEMA funding model “misguided.”
After a lackluster response from FEMA, he sent a second letter to DHS Sec. Mayorkas directly, expressing his disagreement with the funding model.
Following the end of Title 42 and communications with Arizona border leaders, Gallego sent four letters to Biden Administration officials and Congress requesting specific resources these communities need to reduce the burden on them and their residents.