The federal government’s disaster management agency doesn’t have enough money to help Americans left in need by Hurricane Helene after blowing billions on illegal migrants.
Over the past two years, the Federal Emergency Management Agency has distributed more than $1 billion to taxpayers to specifically support illegal immigrants with housing.
But now there is no money to help the 150,000 U.S. citizens who requested federal assistance after their homes were damaged by Hurricane Helene.
“FEMA does not have the resources to get through the season,” Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas admitted Wednesday.
Just last week, Congress passed a funding bill for an additional $20 billion for the expected hurricane season.
A member of law enforcement investigates flood damage in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene on October 2, 2024 in Chimney Rock, North Carolina. According to published reports, the death toll in the southeastern US has risen above 180 people as a result of the storm, which made landfall as a Category 4 storm last Thursday. Mayorkas says FEMA is running out of money to help
But that won’t be enough after Hurricane Helene ripped through Appalachia and the South, killing nearly 200 Americans — with more storms to come.
And that has lawmakers baffled after the taxpayer-funded agency pumped billions into nonprofits that support illegal immigrants.
FEMA got $640 million to support migrants in fiscal year 2024 – and outrage is mounting that the agency is refusing to do so reallocate those funds to disaster relief for Americans.
“Mayorkas and FEMA – immediately stop spending money on illegal immigration resettlement and redirect those funds to areas affected by the hurricane,” Texas Governor Greg Abbott wrote on X.
‘Put Americans first.’
‘WTF!’ Donald Trump Jr. wrote on X in response to a report about FEMA running out of money.
Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody also criticized the federal department for prioritizing migrants over Americans.
“They took FEMA’s emergency food and shelter program and siphoned hundreds of millions of dollars over time to essentially turn it into an illegal immigrant resettlement program,” she said Thursday.
Mayorkas was impeached by the House of Representatives earlier this year over his dealings with the U.S. and Mexico, where lawmakers say authorities have encountered more than 10 million migrants under his tenure, a record number.
Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas was impeached by Republicans in the House of Representatives earlier this year, but the Senate did not take up the case.
Migrants await processing by U.S. Border Patrol agents after crossing into the U.S. from Mexico in Jacumba Hot Springs, California, on June 14, 2024. FEMA has received more than $1 billion since 2023 to house noncitizens
Lawmakers estimate that more than 10 million migrants have entered the US in recent years under Joe Biden.
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Many Republicans, and a select number of Democrats, have openly criticized his leadership of the DHS and have said he is more focused on facilitating migrants entering the US than on enforcing laws to limit the flow of illegal immigration .
This is clearly reflected in the 2023 creation of FEMA’s Shelter and Service Program (SSP), which is exclusively for civilians.
“The Shelter and Services Program (SSP) provides funds to state, local, tribal, and nonprofit organizations to support shelter and other eligible activities, including facility improvements, to support noncitizen migrants who have been encountered and released by the Department of Homeland Security. DHS),” according to the DHS website.
The program to provide shelter to noncitizens has received more than $1 billion in funding since its inception two years ago.
The budget has almost doubled from $363.8 million in 2023 to $650 million in 2024.
There is no indication that this money, earmarked for migrants, will help Americans in trouble as a result of Hurricane Helene.
“We are meeting immediate needs with the money we have,” Mayorkas said Wednesday. “We expect another hurricane to come.”
Migrants are processed by U.S. Border Patrol agents after crossing into the U.S. from Mexico via an abandoned railroad
Flood damage is seen in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene on October 2, 2024 in Chimney Rock, North Carolina
Destroyed homes in the mountains of North Carolina
FEMA did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
“Mayorkas says FEMA doesn’t have enough money to weather hurricane season, but apparently enough to spend $1 billion in recent years to resettle illegal aliens in the U.S.,” wrote Rep. Eric Burlison, R-Mo. in a statement Thursday.
“That’s the Biden/Harris admin in a nutshell. They always put Americans last.”