# Southern Border Communities Reimbursement Act of 2021

This bill would require the federal government to reimburse cities and counties along the southern border for costs they've incurred dealing with immigration and border security issues. Essentially, it's about the federal government paying back local communities for expenses they've had to cover on their own.

Border communities have spent money on things like emergency services, law enforcement, healthcare, and social services related to immigration and border crossings. This bill says that instead of these local governments absorbing those costs, the federal government should reimburse them since immigration is a federal responsibility. The idea is that communities shouldn't have to drain their local budgets to handle a national issue.

The bill would apply to cities and counties in states that border Mexico—primarily Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and California. These communities argue they've been on the front lines of immigration issues and shouldn't have to pay out of their own pockets for services that stem from federal immigration policy. By reimbursing them, the bill aims to ease the financial burden on local governments and free up their resources for other community needs.

This is essentially a fairness argument: if the federal government is responsible for immigration policy and border security, then the federal government should also pay for the local costs that result from those policies, rather than leaving border communities to handle the bill themselves.

Southern Border Communities Reimbursement Act of 2021

Heinrich, Martin

Southern Border Communities Reimbursement Act of 2021 This bill authorizes reimbursement to jurisdictions and organizations for the costs of providing humanitarian relief to aliens, including the cost of emergency preparedness activities. The reimbursement authorized under this bill shall be for FY2021-FY2023 and shall be distributed by the Emergency Food and Shelter Program National Board.