Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas sparked outrage on Wednesday when he told reporters that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) "does not have the funds" to support Americans for the rest of this Atlantic hurricane season. The agency spent $1.4 billion taxpayer dollars since late 2022 to support illegal migrants.
However, there are now no funds available to help the 150,000 Americans who have requested federal aid after Hurricane Helene damaged their homes. "We are meeting the urgent needs with the money that we have," Mayorkas said during a press briefing aboard Air Force One, en route to inspect the damage caused by Hurricane Helene in South and North Carolina.
No Money to Help the Hurricane Affected
"We are expecting another hurricane hitting," Mayorkas 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 help state and local governments manage the surge of asylum seekers.
In response, Mayorkas' office pushed back on Thursday, clarifying that the funds were designated by Congress exclusively for the migrant crisis and could not be redirected for hurricane relief.
"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 the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX.
Abbott, a strong critic of Mayorkas' widespread parole of asylum seekers into the US after President Biden rejected former President Trump's "Remain in Mexico" policy, has been sending migrants to Democrat-led areas like New York City, leading to local budget cuts to accommodate them.
Over the past two years, more than $1.4 billion from FEMA-administered programs has been allocated to help non-federal entities handling migrant care.
Last year, DHS allocated $780 million for the migrant crisis through the FEMA Emergency Food and Shelter Program, which supports non-disaster-related relief, and the FEMA Shelter and Services Program, which Congress authorized in late 2022 specifically for addressing the migrant crisis.
The $640.9 million spent this year is entirely 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."
Situation Still Unclear
It's unclear whether federal authorities have the ability to reallocate funds designated for migrants to help natural disaster victims.
The primary program providing migrant aid was originally intended to combat homelessness, with the Emergency Food and Shelter Program established by 1983 legislation, which focused on "projects and activities in areas with high unemployment, labor surplus, or pockets of poverty."
The funding bill passed in December 2022, which authorized spending on migrant support, vaguely outlined the purpose as "providing shelter and other services to families and individuals encountered by the Department of Homeland Security."
In contrast, a relatively small amount—$4 million—has been distributed directly to families and people since Hurricane Helene struck the Southeast, causing severe flooding and killing at least 202 people from Florida to North Carolina, according to White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre on Thursday.
The $4 million comes from a $10 million FEMA allocation that provides storm victims with $750 grants for groceries.
During an operational briefing on Hurricane Helene in North Carolina on Wednesday, Biden acknowledged, " 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 shortage of available FEMA funds has fueled frustration among congressional Republicans, who won't return to 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."
