Listen:
U.S. Rep. Martha McSally, R-Ariz.
The U.S. Senate will try again Tuesday to pass a funding bill for the Department of Homeland Security, after falling short in one vote Monday.
The funding runs out Friday, and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said he will split off the funding part of the bill from the more contentious parts of the legislation.
Those are aimed at de-funding President Barack Obama's executive action on immigration. Senate Democrats voted against the legislation Monday.
The funding and the immigration debate is entwined in the politics of Southern Arizona, with both members of Congress whose districts touch the border expressing strong opinions about it.
Rep. Martha McSally, a Republican whose district covers the border in Cochise County and includes the eastern half of Tucson and Pima County, said she is worried that federal workers won't get paid if the funding bill isn't passed.
U.S. Rep. Raúl Grijalva, D-Ariz.
"If the Department of Homeland Security is forced to shut down at the end of the week, Border Patrol agents and Customs officials will still be on the job. They just won't get paid," McSally said.
That's because the law prescribes continued work - without pay as long as a funding bill isn't in place - for "essential" federal workers. Border security is considered an essential function.
McSally said the border security bill she is proposing will secure the border first, then allow for discussions on what she called "the more challenging issues," including what to do about those in the country illegally.
That's at the heart of the fight between Democrats and Obama on one side and Republicans on the other.
Rep, Raúl Grijalva, a Democrat whose district covers the border in Santa Cruz, Pima and Yuma counties, said at this stage of the political argument, he is not confident any moves on immigration can get through.
"It is pretty evident Congress will do nothing in terms of passing reform in a comprehensive way or even in a piecemeal way," Grijalva said.
By submitting your comments, you hereby give AZPM the right to post your comments and potentially use them in any other form of media operated by this institution.