PHOENIX — Legislators on Tuesday approved an additional $8 million that will let the Department of Emergency and Military Affairs keep busing migrants away from border communities, a program that has transported more than 81,000 people since 2022.
It was just part of a $12.8 million budget transfer approved for DEMA border activities, including another $4.8 million to reimburse local police agencies and prosecutors that deal with border-related crimes.
But before approving the transfers, members of the Joint Legislative Budget Committee imposed safeguards to keep future spending in check. The DEMA request came after the agency spent almost all of a $15 million budget for migrant busing and $20 million for local law enforcement reimbursement.
Restrictions approved Tuesday will cap the cost of an in-state bus trip at $60 per person and will require DEMA to report to JLBC before approving reimbursements to any police agencies whose applications are not already in the pipeline. The money is being shifted from other areas of DEMA’s border security fund that have been underutilized.