by Steven Richards
In the midst of Washington’s latest major budget crisis, Democrats committed money and legal authority to engage the nation’s disaster relief agency in the business of caring for millions of illegal immigrants who crossed the border under the watch of the Biden-Harris administration. And now it appears that both sides are trying to obfuscate the truth.
White House spokeswoman Karine-Jean Pierre took the lead attempting to suggest that it was a “conspiracy theory” to suggest that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) was using its resources to lend a hand illegal aliens. Republicans responded with surprise and shock at FEMA provided grants in the amount of USD 640.9 million nonprofit organizations that lend a hand immigrants, many of whom entered the United States illegally.
The truth is, however, that the two sides signed a budget agreement earlier this year increasing funding for a novel mission authorized in 2023 for FEMA, which is currently struggling with a double-barreled hurricane crisis that has led to frustration over the agency’s alleged missteps as millions of orphaned and needy Americans across the Southeast wait for lend a hand.
“FEMA, like the entire Biden administration, is here to protect the American people, our citizens, and Hurricane Helene has put a tremendous burden on us, but understand this, take advantage of these funds that have been directed to everyone but the American people: $110 million in FEMA funds went to the emergency food and shelter program to help migrants,” said Rep. Ralph Norman, R-S.C. in an interview with “Just the News, No Noise“ TV program on Monday.
Norman partly blamed Congress’ broken budget process for funneling FEMA funds to immigrants rather than American citizens suffering from the disaster.
“If we don’t get back to business as usual, John, there is no hope of ever implementing a fiscal balance plan,” he said. “They, the Democrats, are playing us like a drum, waiting for the end of the year.”
FEMA has in recent days disputed Republican claims that disaster relief money is being used to fund undocumented immigrants, pointing instead that Congress allocated funding for immigration programs separately during the budget process.
“This is false. No funds are allocated to respond to natural disasters. FEMA’s disaster response and individual assistance efforts are funded through the Disaster Relief Fund, which is a fund set aside for disaster-related activities. “Money from the Disaster Relief Fund has not been diverted for other non-disaster related activities,” FEMA said in its report Hurricane Helene – Frequently Asked Questions side.
So did White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre denied that FEMA funds go to illegal immigrants at a press conference last week, even though she had issued her own statements at the podium two years earlier touting the contrary.
“Funding is also available through the FEMA Emergency Food and Shelter program to eligible local governments and nonprofit organizations upon request to support humanitarian assistance to migrants,” Jean-Pierre said of FEMA’s efforts to alleviate the immigration crisis.
The Democratic-led Congress created the Shelter and Services Program (SSP) that same year to replace a similar program previously run by DHS that was intended to allocate $800 million in 2023 funds to the division of emergency management. While FEMA is a subagency of DHS, this shifts primary responsibility for supporting illegal and legal immigrants to the disaster relief agency.
The funds were supposed to come up novel program which “would support shelter and related activities conducted by non-federal entities, including facility improvements and construction, to support the alleviation of overcrowding in U.S. Customs and Border Protection short-term detention facilities,” according to the Congressional Research Service.
By 2024, the program was well-established at the agency when both Republicans and Democrats voted to fund it with $650 million under the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2024 – the minibus bill passed by the House and Senate in March, both with significant Republican supportand sent to President Joe Biden’s desk.
Now Republicans have put the program in the spotlight after widespread flooding and devastation from Hurricane Helene left several Southeastern regions devastated and tens of thousands of citizens without basic resources. But so far, few who originally supported the bill have acknowledged their role in closing last year’s budget gaps in funding the very programs that came under the spotlight.
A group of senators who did not vote for the funding measure, led by James Lankford of Oklahoma, wrote a letter to President Biden last week expressing concerns about how FEMA’s immigration obligations could impact its disaster preparedness.
“FEMA’s continued involvement in DHS’s efforts to respond to the border crisis could impact its emergency preparedness and response mission,” a group of Republican lawmakers said he wrote to Biden last week. “Instead of ensuring that FEMA is ready to respond to hurricanes and other emergencies, FEMA has been drawn into a border crisis mission.”
“FEMA’s mission is ‘to help people before, during and after disasters,’ not to help DHS address the consequences of your administration’s reckless border policies,” they added.
The letter was also signed by Republican Sens. Josh Hawley of Missouri, Rand Paul of Kentucky and Ron Johnson of Wisconsin.
Frustration among conservatives began to grow after FEMA announced it did not have enough resources to get through the remainder of the hurricane season and amid allegations that the agency was slowing or outright hindering private relief efforts in flood-stricken Appalachia.
“With the money we have, we meet the most urgent needs. We expect another hurricane to hit,” DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said last week. “FEMA does not have the resources to get through the season.”
Rep. Matt Gaetz, D-Fla., said after Mayorkas’ announcement that whistleblowers came to his office after the hurricane and claimed that FEMA had misappropriated disaster relief funds. The agency strongly denied these allegations. In a letter last week, Gaetz said whistleblowers told him that FEMA had solemn management problems and used taxpayer disaster relief funds for non-disaster relief programs that housed and supported illegal workers. immigrants on the southern border of the country.
Additionally, Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, who is sponsoring private efforts to provide relief to hurricane victims, criticized the response of the federal authorities to Hurricane Helene, claiming the government was blocking flights in an attempt to provide hurricane victims with Starlink internet connection devices and other aid, after a source told Musk the airspace had been closed.
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg disputed the reports and said that “no one is closing the airspace and the FAA is not blocking legal rescue and rescue flights.” Only News reported.
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Steven Richards is an investigative reporter at Just the News.
