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Trump FEMA Claim Debunked: Agency Not Running Out Of Money Because Of Migrants
While DHS Sec. Alejandro Mayorkas has warned about the agency running low on cash for its disaster efforts, that’s a separate fund from money put toward migrant communities.
www.forbes.com
Topline
Former President Donald Trump and his allies have claimed the Federal Emergency Management Agency can’t respond well enough to the aftermath of Hurricane Helene because it’s diverted so much money to helping migrants—but that’s not true, as FEMA’s funds for handling disaster relief efforts are separate from money given to immigrant communities.
Trump has repeatedly alleged that FEMA is having money issues because of funds spent on migrants, claiming at a rally Thursday that “Kamala spent all her FEMA money—billions of dollars—on housing for illegal migrants” and quoting Fox News host Jesse Watters as saying, “FEMA is now out of money, because Joe Biden and Kamala spent over a billion dollars of FEMA cash on migrants.”
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.
