WASHINGTON—Congresswoman Katie Porter (D-CA) and Congressman Greg Stanton (D-AZ) today led a group of colleagues in urging House leadership to promptly take up supplemental funding legislation for the Southern border.

“We have heard clearly—from humanitarian organizations, border communities, and law enforcement—that additional resources are the only way to secure our Southern border, and to give refugees access to a safe, orderly, and lawful asylum process,” the Representatives wrote in a letter to Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

This letter comes in advance of the anticipated end of Title 42, which gave the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) the authority to immediately turn asylum seekers away instead of the legally required process of hearing their cases and processing for removal if the criteria for asylum are not met. The Biden Administration announced that expulsions under Title 42 would end on May 23.

The Biden Administration’s plans for dealing with a possible surge in migrants depend heavily on additional resources for DHS and humanitarian organizations at the Southern border. However, DHS and many of its partner organizations are operating at the margins in terms of staffing, beds, transportation, and other core resources, and they cannot increase capacity without additional support.

The Representatives continued, “To avoid a crisis at the border, Congress must provide DHS and humanitarian organizations with the resources they need as soon as possible and before the end of Title 42. We support an emergency funding bill that will allow DHS to hire additional agents, increase the number of beds at its facilities, and give more support to humanitarian organizations working with migrants in need.”

Since being sworn in, Congresswoman Porter has traveled to the southern border three times to learn about the successes and challenges and to see the conditions firsthand. In 2019, she visited Otay Mesa Detention Center, the Chula Vista Border Patrol Station, and the non-profit San Diego Rapid Response Network migrant family shelter. On a second trip, in 2021, she traveled into Tijuana to visit a migrant shelter and toured the San Ysidro Port of Entry. Earlier this month, she again traveled to Tijuana to hear from refugees and advocates about their experiences.

A full copy of today’s letter is available HERE.

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