Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema blasted United States President Joe Biden's administration for the unfair budget allocation between her state and New York City, which received more than four times the funding than her state.
It was previously revealed that the Biden administration provided NYC with more than $104 million to address the migrant crisis but only allocated less than $24 million for Arizona.
Sinema Blasts Unfair Budget Allocation for Migrant Crisis
Sinema, now a registered Independent lawmaker, said she was "livid" about the current administration's decision to give NYC more money than a border state on the front lines of the migrant crisis.
The funding was revealed in June, and Sinema noted that she only learned of the exact amount that NYC was getting from the $800 million new Shelter Services Program grant after House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries and US Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer issued a press release about it, as per The Blaze.
The press release that Jeffries and Schumer issued claimed that NYC had been struggling with a disproportionate surge of asylum-seekers. The lawmakers argued that their negotiation efforts with the White House allowed them to secure the largest share of the federal dollars released via the Shelter Services Program.
The Democrats both said that when they negotiated the funds into the budget for the FEMA Emergency Food and Shelter Program and the Shelter Services Program, they had the needs of NYC as the core of the discussions. Jeffries and Schumer said the funding represents a step in the right direction to better recognize and reward NYC's unique challenge amid the migrant crisis.
However, Sinema told both the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Biden administration that the unfair budget allocation was "outrageous" and "deeply, deeply wrong." She also noted that she was frustrated over the lack of understanding of what it was like in border communities.
New York City's Struggle With Asylum-Seekers
The Arizona senator said what they were experiencing in the state only matched what residents from southern Texas felt. She argued that these two communities are the ones that face the brunt of the migrant crisis, according to The Hill.
Sinema's criticism of the funding for NYC comes as the region has already spent roughly $1.73 billion amid its efforts to provide care to more than 100,000 migrants who have traveled to the city since April 2022. Officials anticipate spending another $5 billion just this fiscal year.
In a statement, the press secretary for the office of New York City Mayor Eric Adams, Fabien Levy, said that nothing with the situation is ideal or good. He added that the city barely got by and needed even a little support to address the migrant crisis better.
New York City officials added they could spend up to $12 billion in the next three years if nothing changes. The surprisingly high cost of providing shelter to asylum-seekers is partly due to the city's unique "right to shelter" law which mandates the provision of housing to every unhoused person, said News Nation.
