WASHINGTON – Senator Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) reintroduced the First Responders Emergency Assistance Act to create a new emergency grant program for law enforcement and first responders in communities experiencing an increase in immigration-related calls, which strains their budgets and diverts limited resources away from serving Arizona taxpayers. Gallego first introducedthis bill last year as a member of the House.
“During surges of illegal immigration at the border, Arizona border communities feel the brunt of it. I’ve heard directly from local fire and police departments who are answering more immigration-related emergency calls without enough resources,” said Senator Gallego. “This bill helps reimburse fire and police departments for these costs and delivers the federal support our brave public safety and emergency response workers deserve.”
The proposed grant program would be administered by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and made available to cities, counties, tribes, and states for the equipment, operations, staffing, and overtime needs of law enforcement, first responders, and emergency operation centers. Additionally, the legislation specifies that DHS must allocate at least one quarter of the grant funds to border communities, which are disproportionately impacted by illegal immigration.
The bill was endorsed by the United States Deputy Sheriff’s Association, the National Association of Police Organizations, the Fraternal Order of Police, and the International Association of Fire Fighters.
“The U.S. Deputy Sheriffs Association (USDSA) strongly endorses the First Responders Emergency Assistance Act. This timely legislation would provide first responders across the country with the resources they need to properly and safely deal with increased costs associated with the influx of migrants,” said Dave Hinners, Executive Director and National Trainer, USDSA. “USDSA recognizes that in many parts of the country – especially along our borders –additional resources are urgently needed to allow first responders to deal with the added workload and keep these communities safe.”
“It is state and local law enforcement officers, who, during the course of daily patrols and duties, encounter non-citizen offenders and immigration violators who pose a threat to public safety. Our nation’s law enforcement departments are understaffed and under resourced and an influx of aliens and migrant-related calls strains an already stressed emergency response system,” said Bill Johnson, Executive Director, National Association of Police Organizations.“The First Responders Emergency Assistance Act recognizes the costs of immigration crises on state and local public safety agencies and provides them with much-needed financial support. NAPO thanks Senator Gallego for his leadership and looks forward to working with him to pass this important bill.”
“As law enforcement officers, our members are often the first ones to address border crossings and locating and processing migrants. However, as U.S. migrant crossings have increased, our law enforcement officers have struggled to keep up with the amount of border crossings happening daily,” said Patrick Yoes, National President of the Fraternal Order of Police. “By providing grants for first responders, this bill would help coordinate efforts between agencies to address migrant needs and ensure that our first responders have the tools necessary to do their jobs.”
Full text of the legislation can be found HERE.
7/2/25