In the Grand Canyon State, Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, I-Ariz., calls herself a “child of the border region.”
Seated at a table with local officials in the Pima County Historic Courthouse on Tuesday, the Democrat-turned-independent took copious notes as she leveled criticism at the Biden administration in her hometown days after the lifting of Title 42 — the pandemic-era policy that kept migrants out of the U.S.
“You mentioned some great accomplishments that I’m really proud to have achieved for Arizonans, but there is still a lot left on the table to be done,” Sinema told NBC News of her political future. “And right now, immigration is my No. 1 concern.”
Sinema introduced legislation that would give the White House the authority to extend Title 42 for two years without a public health emergency order in place. The legislation currently does not have enough support to pass in both chambers of Congress, but it is part of a larger immigration reform effort that Sinema and Republican Sens. John Cornyn of Texas and Thom Tillis of North Carolina are spearheading.
“I’m inviting colleagues both from the House and the Senate to come visit the border, to see that every portion of the border is different and unique,” she explained. “And that the solutions that we come up with must be both bipartisan, bicameral, and most important, practical.”
Leading her third bipartisan trip to the U.S.-Mexico border this year, Sinema — standing alongside Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla. — scoffed when asked about the possibility of tackling the immigration crisis from outside of Congress, despite sharply criticizing Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas in the past.
“Oh, gosh, no, I don’t want that job,” she said. “Serving in the United States Senate, you have the ability to actually change the laws of our country … I’m really happy to be in the legislative part.”
The freshman senator has been elusive about her ambitions after her term concludes in 2024, with no timeline for a decision to run for re-election.
“We need members of Congress who are willing to actually change these [immigration] laws,” she said. “The administration can’t do that. That’s our job.”
Launching his campaign for Sinema’s seat earlier this year, Democratic Rep. Ruben Gallego also has made immigration a central focus. Like her, Gallego has criticized the Biden administration for not doing enough to address the problems border communities are facing.
Gallego said his state was “simply unequipped to handle the surge of migrants” without federal intervention when the three-year-old Title 42 restrictions expired this month.
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