NM delegation seeks funds for asylum aid

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — After reports that U.S. Border Patrol has in recent weeks released more than 4,000 migrants applying for asylum in the United States in Las Cruces, members of New Mexico’s congressional delegation are seeking federal funds for humanitarian relief.

U.S. Sens. Tom Udall and Martin Heinrich on Tuesday sent a letter with U.S. Reps. Ben Ray Luján, Xochitl Torres Small and Deb Haaland to the leaders of the House and Senate Appropriations Committees requesting that state and local governments and local non-governmental organizations that are providing humanitarian relief to asylum-seekers in southern New Mexico be reimbursed.

“It is clear that the federal government’s policies have put a strain on local resources and contributed to the humanitarian crisis along the border,” the Democratic delegation wrote. “New Mexico and its communities are facing new and unbudgeted costs caring for asylum-seeking migrants, as federal agencies have not provided for their sufficient shelter and humanitarian needs. These costs are expected to continue.”