Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas set off outrage Wednesday when he told reporters that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) “does not have the funds” to see Americans through the rest of this Atlantic hurricane season — after the agency spent more than $1.4 billion since the fall of 2022 to address the migrant crisis.
“We are meeting the immediate needs with the money that we have,” Mayorkas said during a press gaggle on Air Force One en route to tour damage from Hurricane Helene in South and North Carolina.
“We are expecting another hurricane hitting,” he added. “We do not have the funds. FEMA does not have the funds to make it through the season and what — what is imminent.”
Critics pointed out that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) allocated $640.9 million this year in FEMA-administered funds to aid state and local governments coping with the influx of asylum seekers — though Mayorkas’ office fired back late Thursday, insisting that those funds couldn’t be used for hurricane relief because Congress authorized them specifically for the migrant crisis.
“This is easy. Mayorkas and FEMA — immediately stop spending money on illegal immigration resettlement and redirect those funds to areas hit by the hurricane. Put Americans first,” Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott tweeted Wednesday in response to the DHS chief.
“Yeah!” agreed Elon Musk, the billionaire owner of X and CEO of Tesla and SpaceX.
Abbott is a top critic of Mayorkas’ mass parole of asylum seekers into the US after President Biden repudiated former President Donald Trump’s “Remain in Mexico” policy — with the governor busing migrants to Democrat-led jurisdictions such as New York City, forcing local budget cuts to house them.
Over two years, more than $1.4 billion has been committed from FEMA-administered programs to support non-federal entities that are taking care of migrants.
DHS allocated $780 million for the migrant crisis last year through the FEMA Emergency Food and Shelter Program, which funds relief not associated with natural disasters, and the FEMA Shelter and Services Program, which was authorized in late 2022 by Congress to respond to the migrant crisis.
The $640.9 million spent this year comes solely from the Shelter and Services Program.
“These claims are completely false,” DHS said in a statement Thursday to Fox News following the Republican outcry.
“As Secretary Mayorkas said, FEMA has the necessary resources to meet the immediate needs associated with Hurricane Helene and other disasters. The Shelter and Services Program (SSP) is a completely separate, appropriated grant program that was authorized and funded by Congress and is not associated in any way with FEMA’s disaster-related authorities or funding streams.”
It’s unclear if federal officials have the power to redirect migrant-focused funds to natural disaster victims.
The basic program from which migrant funds flowed aimed to alleviate homelessness — with 1983 legislation setting up the Emergency Food and Shelter Program and calling for “projects and activities in civil jurisdictions with high unemployment, or in labor surplus areas, or in political units or in pockets of poverty.”
The December 2022 funding bill authorizing spending on migrants vaguely described the purpose as for “providing shelter and other services to families and individuals encountered by the Department of Homeland Security.”
A relatively paltry $4 million has been paid directly to families and individuals in the week since Hurricane Helene ravaged the Southeast, killing at least 202 people and causing severe flooding damage from Florida to North Carolina, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Thursday.
Those funds are from a $10 million FEMA allocation that allows storm victims grants of $750 for groceries.
Biden said Wednesday during an operational briefing on Hurricane Helene in North Carolina that “It’s going to cost billions of dollars to deal with this storm and all the communities affected. And Congress has an obligation to ensure the states have the resources they need.”
The lack of available FEMA funds stoked outrage among congressional Republicans, who are not due back in session until after Election Day.
“The Biden-Harris administration took more than a billion tax dollars that had been allocated to FEMA for disaster relief and used it to house illegal aliens,” fumed Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio). “Now, they’ve abandoned American hurricane victims in North Carolina, Georgia, Florida, South Carolina, and Tennessee.”
Rep. Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.), whose district neighbors the disaster zone, tweeted: “FEMA spending over a billion dollars on illegals while they leave Americans stranded and without help is treasonous. U.S. citizens are dying. Pray for our country folks.”
Rep. Eli Crane (R-Ariz.) added: “‘The Biden-Harris FEMA spent over $1 BILLION on funding illegal aliens. America LAST.”
“Connect the dots, if you can,” wrote Tim Murtaugh, an adviser to former President Donald Trump’s campaign. “DHS says FEMA might not have enough cash to help people through hurricane season. But in 2 years of a new Biden-Harris program, they’ve spent $1 BILLION on housing and other services for migrants.”
Last modified: October 4, 2024
