Sen. Kyrsten Sinema is furious with the Biden administration and congressional Democrats’ immigration policies, and she is not biting her tongue ahead of President Biden’s upcoming trip to Arizona.
Ms. Sinema ditched the Democratic Party in favor of the independent label since Mr. Biden won the White House, and her Senate seat will be on the ballot next year as the president seeks reelection.
In public comments and meetings with her Arizonan constituents since leaving D.C. for Congress’ August recess, Ms. Sinema is thrashing Democrats.
“The longer the federal government refuses to offer real solutions, the more our small border towns must unfairly shoulder the burden of the border crisis,” Ms. Sinema said in a statement on Thursday. “We can deliver lasting solutions by bringing folks together, listening, and staying laser-focused on results — and that’s exactly what I’ll keep doing.”
Ms. Sinema visited Yuma on Wednesday to huddle with first responders and local leaders to discuss immigration, and she ripped into federal officials.
She told Yuma officials she reached out to the White House to express concern on immigration policy and was furious when she saw federal funding going to New York to deal with immigration issues because it is not a southern border state.
Asked during the Yuma roundtable event about why federal funds were headed to New York, Ms. Sinema said the leadership of the House and Senate were New Yorkers. She referred to Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries without directly naming them.
“The fact that a yeoman’s amount of this money went to New York City in my opinion is wrong because they are not a border state and they are not facing the kind of pressure that we are facing here,” Ms. Sinema said on Wednesday.
Ms. Sinema also criticized New York City Mayor Eric Adams, also a Democrat, for wanting to stop accepting migrants as Ms. Sinema said Arizona does not have that luxury.
The Arizona independent’s criticism comes as Mr. Biden is headed to her state this coming week as part of a westward trip to talk about climate change. The president is also expected to visit New Mexico and Utah.
• This article was based in part on wire service reports.
• Ryan Lovelace can be reached at rlovelace@washingtontimes.com.
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