ICYMI: Gallego Calls for Additional Funding to Secure Arizona’s Border, Stop the Flow of Fentanyl
WASHINGTON, DC – With Arizona’s border communities on the frontlines of the national crisis at the Southwest border, Rep. Ruben Gallego (AZ-03) sent a letter to Speaker of the House, Mike Johnson, imploring the Speaker to ensure that any supplemental funding package that comes before the House addresses the needs of Arizona’s border communities.
Recent reporting by ABC News highlights how U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers are dealing with worsening crises on multiple fronts along the Arizona border.
"The headline here is we need additional resources to continue our fight against fentanyl," U.S. Customs and Border Protection Acting Commissioner for Nogales’ Mariposa Port of Entry, Troy Miller, told ABC News.
That’s why Rep. Gallego is doing what he can in Congress to ensure Arizona’s border communities have the support they need.
“CBP data has shown that drugs are overwhelmingly being smuggled through U.S. ports of entry—particularly in Arizona and California. Our frontline personnel at the border need more resources to adequately respond to a challenge of this scale… The complex dynamics at our borders will not be fixed overnight. However, Congress now has the ability to provide significant resources to our border patrol agents and border communities,” Rep. Gallego writes in the letter.
READ MORE: Gallego wants Congress to bolster border security with aid package (Arizona Republic)
The letter was sent just a day before it was announced that the Lukeville Port of Entry in Arizona would be temporarily closing due to insufficient resources to process the increase in migrant crossings in the area. In response, Rep. Gallego reiterated his call to dramatically increase resources to manage the migrant arrivals, keep Arizonans safe, and protect Arizona’s economy.
This is part of Rep. Gallego’s extensive fight for more funding for Arizona’s border communities.
Following the end of Title 42 in May and after communicating 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.
In June, he sent a first letter to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (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 Secretary of Homeland Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas directly, expressing his disagreement with the funding model.
Gallego also sent a letter to FEMA urging the Agency to fix a new documentation requirement that strains border communities and non-profits in Arizona, putting their funding at risk.
Following these letters, as well as a one-on-one call with Sec. Mayorkas, Rep. Gallego announced in September that he had secured over $2 million in emergency funding from the DHS to support Arizona’s border communities as they address an increase in migrant crossings.
In November, Rep. Gallego joined Rep. Michael McCaul (TX-10) in sending a bipartisan letter to House Appropriations Committee leadership requesting that any FY 2024 supplemental appropriations include funding for critical programs to aid first responders in communities impacted by immigration.
Most recently, after close coordination with Arizona’s non-profits, border community leaders, and law enforcement officials, Rep. Gallego rolled out his plan to institute sweeping reforms to address the problems plaguing FEMA’s failed Shelter and Services Program (SSP) that has shortchanged Arizona’s border communities on the front line of the border crisis.