The flow of illegal immigrants being caught and released has dried up so quickly that one Arizona county is shutting down two migrant shelters, saying they aren’t needed anymore.

Pima County officials said no migrants have been released into their community by the Border Patrol since President Trump took office on Monday, according to Tucson.com, the website for the Arizona Daily Star.

The lack of people means the feds won’t reimburse the county, and Pima doesn’t want to pay to keep the shelters open as a contingency, officials said.

“This puts the County in a very precarious financial position,” County Administrator Jan Lesher wrote in a memo to the board of supervisors. “Whether there are people under shelter or not, the County still incurs operational costs from its contractors for staffing readiness, shelter amenity rentals (such as the portable showers), heating and cooling costs, and more.”

She said if the Border Patrol does start to release people again, it would be a problem since the county can’t easily restart the shelters. 

Tucson.com reported that the county is canceling its contract with the for-profit company that runs one of the shelters.

The news outlet reported that Tucson has housed more than 500,000 migrants since 2019, and collected $117 million in federal funding for the efforts.

“This will likely bring to a close one of the most significant humanitarian aid programs undertaken by Pima County and its regional partners in the County’s history,” Ms. Lesher wrote.

Combined, the two shelters have nearly 800 beds.

They will remain open until Sunday to give migrants currently staying there enough time to move on to new destinations.

• Stephen Dinan can be reached at sdinan@washingtontimes.com.