Senator Sinema says many of the migrants in Lukeville don't qualify for asylum

LUKEVILLE, Ariz. — There’s no end in sight to the mass migrant crossings in Lukeville.

Now, local Mexicans have come to sell water and food through the wall.

Some are giving it to them for free.

“It’s very sad, and very ugly here. Imagine, spending the whole night and it is so cold," Armandina Palomares from Sonyata said. "In the morning, I want to bring something warm to their stomach.

Single adult men wait for days as Border Patrol works to process them all.

Abda Rzak from Morocco hopes he will be processed next.

Adam Klepp

Many of the migrants here are also from Africa.

As Rzak says he wants a job and a new start in America

“I say to myself, this is my time. I go to get my dreams," Rzak said.

But Arizona Senator Kyrsten Sinema says economic migrants don't qualify for asylum claims.

“We need to change the laws so that the folks who are coming in to claim asylum are actually facing asylum.”

The government accepts asylum claims only for fear of persecution in a migrant’s home country because of race, religion, nationality, social group, or political opinion.

In Fiscal Year '22 less than half of all asylum claims were granted by U.S. courts.

"Many people are being released into the country without an interview about whether they have a legal claim to this country," Sinema said.

Lastly saying it’s past time for Congress to truly reform the border.

“I am working to find bipartisan agreement on policy changes that would actually slow the flow of migrants seeking entrance to our country," Sinema said.

Major immigration legislation hasn’t passed congress in decades.