(The Center Square) — Maricopa County is allocating $5 million to its relocation assistance program, which assists nonprofits that help refugees.
Organizations such as the Area Agency on Aging, Friendly House, International Rescue Committee, Lutheran Social Services, and the Somali American United Council of Arizona are each receiving funds. Chicanos For La Cause is getting the biggest slice, over $1.8 million, to help families, according to a county news release.
The funds are coming from the American Rescue Plan Act and went into effect on May 1, the county said.
“People arrive in our community from all over the world and when you have never been here, it can be disorienting and scary,” Supervisor Steve Gallardo said in the statement. “Maricopa County is fortunate to have many non-profits that help refugees from other countries find housing, medical care, and cross language barriers so they can integrate and become an asset.”
Although it’s unclear if there’s a direct correlation, the funding comes as Title 42 ends Thursday, which is expected to increase the surge of migrants coming across the southern border. Some of those migrants end up in Maricopa County, as well as other parts of the state away from the border itself are could be considered refugees, depending upon their situation.
According to Arizona Refugee Resettlement Program data, the state received close to 6,000 refugees in the federal fiscal year 2022, with thousands of them coming from Afghanistan and Cuba.
This article First appeared in the center square