There are separate pots of money for disaster relief and for support to cities and states for immigration issues. No money for disaster relief was diverted to immigrants. Just another Trump LIE.
Some facts from Forbes:
Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas did say Tuesday that FEMA’s disaster relief efforts are facing a dire cash crunch, warning that while the agency is “meeting the immediate needs” of Hurricane Helene recovery “with the money that we have,” it “does not have the funds to make it through the [hurricane] season.”
But those financial issues aren’t because of money going to migrants: While FEMA and U.S. Customs and Border Protection have given more than $1 billion since the start of 2023 to communities that are taking in migrants, that’s been through the agency’s Shelter and Services Program, a totally different funding pot than the Disaster Relief Fund used to respond to hurricanes and other natural disasters.
FEMA says on its website that any claims that disaster funds were rerouted to border-related efforts are “false,” noting the Disaster Relief Fund is a dedicated fund for managing disasters and money meant for the fund “has not been diverted to other, non-disaster related efforts.”
Congress determines how much money goes to FEMA’s disaster fund, and the fund faces issues after lawmakers declined to allocate additional funding for FEMA’s efforts in the stopgap funding bill it passed last month, only extending FEMA’s existing funding level and allowing it to draw from $20 billion in funds more quickly.
Democratic lawmakers expressed concern about FEMA’s budget even before Helene hit—as FEMA had to stop funding non-emergency rebuilding efforts in order to preserve funds—and some have now called for Congress to come back from its recess to pass legislation that would give the disaster relief fund more cash.
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