TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — Pima County has said it regards providing shelter for asylum seekers as a matter of health and safety for the asylum seekers, and the community.
Now, Pima County Supervisors have approved $8.1 million in contracts related to asylum seekers passing through Pima County.
Most of the items relate to Catholic Community Services housing asylum seekers at the Pima County owned Casa Alitas shelter on Tucson’s Southwest Side.
Casa Alitas says asylum seekers normally stay just a day or two before they leave Tucson on the way to host families where they will wait for their asylum claims to be decided.
County Administrator Jan Lesher says all those asylum seekers are in the U.S. with Federal approval.
“No one from Pima County and none of our partners make a determination about whether that person is here legally or not. They are brought to us by Customs and Border Protection and it is CBP's responsibility. They're the ones who have made the determination about their legal asylum seeking status of that individual. And they're the ones brought to us so you see us regularly using the word legal asylum seeker.”
County officials say no local dollars are involved. The county says all the money is Federal money administered by the county because immigration is a Federal responsibility.
District 4 Supervisor Steve Christy is often critical of spending public resources on migrants. He was the sole no vote on the items.