More than 135 Mayors Demand Congress Include Funding for Border and Migrant Services As Part of Any Supplement Spending Bill

Bipartisan Group of Mayors Calls for at Least $1.4 Billion to Support Local Governments Seeing an Influx of Migrants and Asylum Seekers

WASHINGTON, Nov. 7, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, a bipartisan group of 137 mayors in the United States Conference of Mayors (USCM) sent a letter to Congress registering their strong support for President Biden's supplemental funding request for Ukraine, Israel, and border security---calling for quick action on the measure. The mayors highlighted the importance of including funding to address the recent increase in the number of migrants and asylum seekers through the Shelter and Services Program (SSP), which helps local governments and non-profit organizations provide essential services for recently arrived migrants. They urged Congress to find a way to provide considerably more funding than the $1.4 billion requested so that the non-profit agencies and religious organizations in cities serving migrants can better meet the growing need.

In the letter, the mayors wrote in part:

"We are mayors from cities all over America – cities on or near the border and cities in other parts of the country to which migrants, including those awaiting asylum requests, have come. While we welcome migrants to our cities, we need more help to provide them food, housing, services and access to employment.  In many of our cities, both city government agencies and local non-profits are overwhelmed; they simply cannot keep up with the need to provide them this most basic assistance."

The full text of the letter to Congress can be found here and below:

Dear Senators and Representatives: 

We write through the United States Conference of Mayors to register the strong support of America's mayors for President Biden's supplemental request that includes additional funding for Ukraine, Israel, and border security. We urge you to consider and pass this critical supplemental funding as quickly as possible. 

The supplemental proposal includes an additional $1.4 billion for the Shelter and Services Program (SSP), which provides grants to local governments and non-profit organizations for temporary food, shelter, and other services for recently arrived migrants.  That funding will be most welcome, but in fact more is badly needed. We specifically urge you to provide that $1.4 billion for SSP grants as a minimum and to find a way to provide considerably more funding than this to make sure that the public and private non-profit agencies and religious organizations in our cities serving migrants are able to meet the need. 

We are mayors from cities all over America – cities on or near the border and cities in other parts of the country to which migrants, including those awaiting asylum requests, have come.  While we welcome migrants to our cities, we need more help to provide them food, housing, services and access to employment.  In many of our cities, both city government agencies and local non-profits are overwhelmed; they simply cannot keep up with the need to provide them this most basic assistance.

The U.S. Conference of Mayors has long recognized that our cities and our nation have been built, strengthened, and sustained by immigrants and that immigrants have helped to make our cities inclusive, multicultural centers reflecting core American values that foster economic prosperity and opportunity.  The migrants who have come to our cities over the last few years will continue this tradition, but we desperately need assistance to help them do this. 

Sincerely,

About the United States Conference of Mayors –  The U.S. Conference of Mayors is the official nonpartisan organization of cities with populations of 30,000 or more. There are more than 1,400 such cities in the country today, and each city is represented in the Conference by its chief elected official, the mayor. Follow our work on X, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Threads, and Medium.

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SOURCE U.S. Conference of Mayors