Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (I-AZ) reportedly criticized Democratic leadership for giving New York money to handle immigration from the southern border rather than giving more money to border communities.
“It’s fairly obvious. I don’t know if you noticed, but the announcement about that $104 million came out first, in a joint press release from Schumer and Jeffries — not from the White House or from FEMA. The first news of it broke by their press release. Now, how did that happen?” Sinema said in a statement to Politico.
Chuck Schumer, the majority leader in the Senate, and Hakeem Jeffries, the minority leader in the House of Representatives, both announced the $104.6 million FEMA award in June.
Only a small portion, or around $39 million, of the $291 million in monies allotted by FEMA in 2023 got to border towns in Arizona.
The number of immigrants who have been provided transportation to New York by border patrol agents over the past year has caused the state to come under significantly more stress.
In an emergency funding request submitted last week, the White House asked for $600 million to assist ease the strain on overcrowded immigrant shelters.
The Arizona independent has filed papers permitting her to gather money for a reelection campaign, though she has not said if she would compete for reelection to her Senate seat in 2024.
Sinema quit the Democratic Party in December 2022, and if she competes for reelection, there will probably be three candidates.
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