Sen. Kyrsten Sinema Criticizes Biden Administration Response To Migrant Crisis As 'Not Adequate'

Sen. Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona said in an interview last week that although the new proposals from the Biden administration's measures on immigration are "helpful," she's "very concerned that all this is happening in the week or so" before the end of Title 42. 

In an interview with "Face the Nation" moderator Margaret Brennan at the McCain Institute's Sedona Forum, Sinema said that neither she nor Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs received answers from the Department of Homeland Security on specific questions regarding logistics and processing of migrants once Title 42 expires on May 11. 

"Just today, I was on the phone with a sheriff of Cochise County — he has gotten no information from the Department of Homeland Security of the federal government about what the flow is going to look like, about what they can expect for processing in terms of how long it takes to process migrants," Sinema said. "He's got no information." 

"Either the administration has that information and they're choosing not to share it, which is a problem since we're the ones who are going to deal with the crisis," Sinema said. "Or they don't have it and that's even more concerning, because how do you prepare for the inflow of migrants when you don't know what you're going to expect?"

The Biden administration plans to open new processing centers for migrants in Latin America and will send 1,500 troops to the southern border in Texas to support the Department of Homeland Security in attempts to curb the numbers of migrants and prepare to receive the ones who do arrive there.

Sinema praised those portions of the administration plans, but said that she has spent the last two years asking for "concrete plans." 

"While it's wonderful that the administration is announcing things like a 1,500 troop deployment and these new processing centers — which will not be operational by next Friday — those are good things," Sinema said. "Those are aspirational. That's not the same as operational. And so what I'm asking for and have been for two years, is for the administration to make concrete plans."

Brennan asked Sinema if she had spoken to the White House directly about preparations for migrants. Sinema said she had but the response "has not been adequate."

Sinema also spoke about a bill she recently introduced along with Sen. Thom Tillis, Republican of North Carolina, that allows the U.S. government to expel migrants for the next two years — similar to how the Title 42 health emergency authorities functioned.

However, Sinema referred to this proposal as a "band-aid."

"That bill is saying, hey, Title 42 goes away on Thursday, and everyone here in Arizona knows we are not prepared," Sinema told Brennan. "The Biden administration had two years to prepare for this and did not do so. And our state is going to bear the brunt and migrants will be in crisis as soon as next week." 

Her legislation, she argued, will allow for "some time and space for the Biden administration to do their job. And for us legislators to actually create a plan that can get through both the House and the Senate."

"And what bothers me about that, Margaret, is that look, they don't live in a border state," said Sinema. "So they don't know that the mayor of Gila Bend has to put migrants in his car and drive them to Phoenix, because they are released in a town that has no bus stop. They don't know what it's like for migrants to sleep outside, in the farms in Yuma, because there is nowhere for them to go.This is a crisis for our border communities and for migrants. " 

"Unfortunately, the parties are thinking about this from a political perspective, rather than a human perspective," she added. 

Besides Sinema and Tillis's proposition, House Republicans are also working on a new border security bill that is set to be voted on May 11, but it is almost certainly dead on arrival in the Democratic-controlled Senate.

Sinema addressed the lack of willingness in Congress to negotiate across the aisle again when asked about the standoff over the debt ceiling.

"Both parties are talking without listening to each other," Sinema said. "We're in a situation where one party is saying they will not negotiate at all with the other party. I think that's a very dangerous place to be because one, it's not realistic. And two, that is just not going to happen." 

However, Sinema did express confidence that the debt ceiling will be lifted "well in advance" of an actual default. 

Could they get it passed by June 1, when Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has said is the earliest the U.S. could default? "They could get it done," said Sinema, "but it would be a challenge."