House Republicans are demanding answers from Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas regarding the Biden administration’s allocation of federal funds to illegal immigrants compared to disaster relief.
In a letter sent to Mayorkas last week, Republicans on the House Homeland Security Committee pressed the top DHS official to explain the administration’s spending priorities through the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Lawmakers decried the agency’s programs focused specifically on illegal immigrants, especially as top Biden administration officials worry FEMA could run out of disaster relief funds while responding to recent hurricane damage in the Southeast.
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“You stated to media reporters that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) ‘does not have the funds, to make it through the [hurricane] season,’” states the letter, led by Committee Chairman Mark Green (R-TN). “If true, FEMA’s funding shortfall is extremely disconcerting as Americans impacted by Hurricane Helene and potentially by Hurricane Milton face dire circumstances while the Biden-Harris administration may have unwisely and irresponsibly focused funding requests for other FEMA activities.”
The letter cites funding requests from President Joe Biden to replenish the Disaster Relief Fund in previous fiscal years, which lawmakers noted has been met or exceeded in every appropriations bill.
For example, Congress appropriated about $61.2 billion for the DRF through both annual and supplemental appropriations bills, according to the letter. Lawmakers also pointed to the $20 billion that was approved for FEMA in the most recent stopgap spending bill Congress passed at the end of September.
Still, Mayorkas has warned that although that money will cover immediate needs, it may not be enough to last the hurricane season.
“We have the immediate needs right now. On a continuing resolution, we have funds, but that is not a stable source of supply, if you will,” Mayorkas said earlier this month. “This is a multibillion-dollar, multiyear recovery.”
However, lawmakers say they are “troubled” the DHS and FEMA “may not have properly apprised Congress of its need for additional disaster relief funds” despite making separate requests to fund FEMA’s Shelter and Services Program, a grant program that funds nonfederal entities for shelter and services provided to migrants.
The department has pushed back on assertions from Republicans that FEMA diverted funds meant for disaster relief to go toward immigration-related efforts, noting the two programs are kept separate. Lawmakers acknowledged this in their letter to Mayorkas but maintained they were concerned about spending prioritization.
“According to analysts, Hurricane Helene caused up to $47.5 billion in damages to Americans across 16 states,” lawmakers wrote. “The recovery for these communities will take years and possibly even decades. While the Committee understands that there is no intermingling of funds between the DRF and SSP, the Department’s priorities for limited resources provided by taxpayers to the Department should first and foremost serve Americans.”
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As a result, Green said the committee would investigate the DHS’s “prioritization” to respond to natural disasters and is requesting access to internal documents that detail funding requests for the disaster relief fund and the immigrant shelter program. That request includes all documents and communications between FEMA, the DHS, employees of the Executive Office of the President, and any contractors involved.
Lawmakers are asking for a response to that request by 5 p.m. on Oct. 25. It’s not clear whether Mayorkas or the DHS will cooperate with the request, and the Washington Examiner contacted the department for comment.