The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) allocated over $1 billion for a migrant assistance program over the past two fiscal years, but now it is running out of cash for disaster relief as Hurricane Helene rages on and more storms loom.
Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said on Wednesday that FEMA does not have enough funds to make it through hurricane season, The Associated Press reported. Though resources are running short for Americans displaced by Helene, the agency spent big on a program providing “humanitarian services to noncitizen migrants” after their release from Department of Homeland Security custody.
FEMA disbursed the funds as part of its Shelter and Services Program, sending money to help cities, counties and states grapple with the migrant crisis, records show. Shelter, food, transportation, acute medical care and personal hygiene supplies are among the goods and services provided to migrants using FEMA’s funds.
Congress and the Biden-Harris administration apportioned funding to FEMA specifically for the Shelter and Services Program, according to federal documents.
“Let’s go and point out the obvious which is that FEMA had utilized a large majority of the personnel who should be here taking care of this to be replaced or repurposed for immigration resettlement when we need to be focusing on Americans whether it be in Maui, Palestine, Ohio, Florida, North Carolina, or Tennessee,” Republican Florida Rep. Cory Mills said on Wednesday, according to the Washington Examiner.
It is unclear how many FEMA personnel are working on the Shelter and Services Program, though a considerable sum of funds allocated to the agency has gone toward migrant resettlement efforts. FEMA spent $363.8 million on its migrant program in the 2023 fiscal year and had $650 million allocated to it for the 2024 fiscal year, according to the agency.
At least 191 people are confirmed dead as a result of Helene as of Thursday morning and large swaths of the southeastern U.S. are without power, CNN reported. Damages caused by the storm could reach as high as $35 billion, according to estimates from the reinsurance company Gallagher Re.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration determined in August that America should be prepared for an “extremely active hurricane season,” projecting between four and seven major hurricanes, as well as several additional less severe storms, between June 1 and November 30.
“We are expecting another hurricane hitting,” Mayorkas said. “FEMA does not have the funds to make it through the season.”
Under the Biden-Harris administration, FEMA has placed increased emphasis on “climate resilience,” racial justice trainings and funding diversity, equity and inclusion studies.
There have been over 8 million encounters at the southern border since President Joe Biden took office, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Migrants have placed a financial strain on many of the areas they’ve settled in, including major cities like New York and Chicago.
FEMA did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.
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