By Casey Harper (The Middle Sq.)
The Biden-Harris administration took a tidal wave of criticism this week after U.S. Division of Homeland Safety Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas instructed reporters that the Federal Emergency Administration Administration didn’t have sufficient funds to cowl the remainder of this hurricane season.
These feedback drew criticism from Republican lawmakers, billionaire Elon Musk and former President Donald Trump as a result of FEMA has spent not less than a whole bunch of tens of millions of {dollars} on resettling migrants within the U.S. since President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris took workplace.
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“The Biden-Harris Administration’s self-inflicted border disaster has wasted American taxpayer {dollars} on companies for unlawful immigrants and is now struggling to assist People struggling within the wake of pure disasters like Hurricane Helene,” Home Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., instructed The Middle Sq. after it reported on the FEMA’s migrant spending.
FEMA is topic to DHS’ authority and beneath the Biden-Harris administration has been centered on serving to the latest inflow of greater than 14 million migrants settle within the U.S.
As The Middle Sq. beforehand reported, FEMA introduced $640 million in new funding for serving to migrants in April of this yr, $300 million for “direct funding” to assist immigrants, and $340 million for cities by way of grants to assist migrants, half of a bigger FEMA deal with resettling migrants within the U.S. beneath the Biden-Harris administration. These quantities don’t embody FEMA tax {dollars} spent on migrant relocations earlier in Biden’s time period.
“We’re assembly the quick wants with the cash that now we have,” Mayorkas instructed reporters earlier this week, including that “FEMA doesn’t have the funds to make it by the season” and that they anticipate one other hurricane to hit.
The FEMA money crunch for hurricane victims whereas FEMA has greater than sufficient for migrants grew to become a stark instance of controversial prioritization within the Biden-Harris administration, which continues to take fireplace for its dealing with of the border disaster.
The FEMA instance proved to have political utility amid the continuing battle over unlawful immigration in an election yr.
“There’s no one that’s dealt with a hurricane or storm worse than what they’re doing proper now,” Trump mentioned at a rally Thursday.
“Kamala spent all her FEMA cash, billions of {dollars}, on housing for unlawful migrants, lots of whom shouldn’t be in our nation,” Trump continued, exaggerating the determine.
The White home has strongly pushed again on Trump’s feedback, calling them “false” and arguing that the funding sources for migrants and catastrophe aid come from separate sources.
Critics have argued it’s a drawback of mission drift at FEMA and prioritizing funding for migrants when catastrophe aid funding is working low, although Congress appropriates the funding within the first place.
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A White Home spokesperson instructed The Middle Sq. that Hurricane Helene victims might be properly taken care of and that there isn’t any hazard of working out of funds to assist with this hurricane restoration.
“FEMA has what it wants for quick response and restoration efforts,” mentioned Director of Public Affairs and FEMA spokesperson Jaclyn Rothenberg. “As FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell has mentioned, she has the complete authority to spend towards the President’s finances, however we’re not out of hurricane season but so we have to preserve an in depth eye on it. We might have to return into quick wants funding and we might be watching it carefully.”
Critics on-line took problem with the $750 in emergency help for particular person Helene victims touted by Harris, arguing it’s not sufficient when a lot cash goes elsewhere.
A White Home spokesperson instructed The Middle Sq. that the $750 is simply quick help for victims and doesn’t imply they won’t obtain extra money to assist with injury to their properties and different commonplace emergency help.
Critics argued FEMA has change into distracted specializing in noncitizens due to the fallout of an unaddressed border disaster as a substitute of American citizen storm victims.
“President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris should put People first and take motion now to reverse their open borders insurance policies which are bleeding People dry,” Comer instructed The Middle Sq..
Syndicated with permission from The Center Square.
