PHOENIX — Congress members from different parties and different states are coming together to tour Arizona’s southern border.
They’re headed across Border Patrol’s Tucson Sector, which has been among the busiest stretches of the US southern border for migrant encounters so far this year.
The group consists of Congressmen Greg Stanton (D-AZ-4), Juan Ciscomani (R-AZ-6), Eric Sorensen (D-IL-17), Nick LaLota (R-NY-1) and Congresswoman Nikki Budzinski (D-IL-13).
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The lawmakers are meeting with non-profits, federal officials and trade partners to discuss needs along the border, including security concerns, funding, and asylum system reforms.
“It is a crisis that we have to deal with every day,” Stanton said. “We’re sitting in the same room with the same facts so that we can eventually come together and reach a compromise.”
After multiple recently failed or stalled border bills, the lawmakers said it’s an uphill battle to get a larger reform passed.
In the meantime, the congress members are chipping away at issues.
One example, is a bill introduced by both Ciscomani and Stanton that would speed up hiring for border patrol.
“We have to, sometimes, it’s one bite at a time and that’s one of the ways that we’re approaching it,” Ciscomani said. “We have a divided government and we have to work on solutions that actually make sense. Are any of us going to get anything we want? The answer is no. But are we going to be in a better place tomorrow than we are today if we work together? The answer is yes.”
