Republican New York Rep. Marc Molinaro pressed Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Administrator Deanne Criswell Tuesday about prioritizing illegal immigrants over American citizens in the agency’s disaster response efforts.
FEMA lacked adequate funds in its response to Hurricanes Helene and Milton after disbursing roughly $1 billion over the past two fiscal years to help cities, counties and states grapple with the migrant crisis as part of its Shelter and Services Program, records show. Molinaro, during a House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee hearing, attempted to get Criswell to acknowledge the “absurdity” of these funding decisions, but she resisted.
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“Do you see the absurdity that American citizens are getting their $750 and then yes, struggling through a very complicated process to meet the thresholds necessary to get the aid they need to have housing, food and shelter while your agency is contracting with not for profits to easily hand out access to those who are placed here illegally?” Molinaro asked. “Do you see the absurdity?”
Criswell responded by asserting that FEMA’s mission is “to support people, help people, before, during, and after disasters,” adding that she makes “priority decisions every day.”
FEMA offered a one-time payment of $750 for necessities, including food and water to residents of Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia, who were affected by Hurricane Helene. The residents also could obtain further financial aid for home reparation and temporary housing following registration for disaster assistance.
“Do you think in responding to an emergency the priority of government ought to be to ensure that American citizens are triaged, and that the services of FEMA are focused on responding to them and their service program first?” Molinaro followed up.
“I absolutely believe that the services that FEMA provides should be supporting the people that have been impacted by disasters,” Criswell answered.
Molinaro asked if there should be “equity” and “fairness” in how FEMA responds to disasters, with the administrator answering, “We should make sure that all people have access to our programs and that we remove the barriers.”
The representative cut Criswell off to ask if she sees “the inequity in those placed here illegally having taxpayers support a plane ticket, a house, a hotel, food, cell phones, access to healthcare.”
“Do you not see the inequity that they have access immediately?” he added.
Criswell began to answer that Congress was responsible for FEMA’s decisions, but Molinaro interrupted her to dispute her claim, saying the agency can prioritize what it chooses.
“Why can you not say today that the priority ought to have been to make sure that American citizens were getting first response, adequate response and not distracted response?” he asked. “Why can you not say that?”
“Our priority is the American people and we administered our disaster programs,” Criswell asserted.
Molinaro noted that Criswell appeared unwilling to “admit to or acknowledge the inequities.”
“I’m not trying to be combative, this is absurd,” he added.
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