Disaster response agency FEMA has run out of money to help struggling Americans in the wake of Hurricane Helene, despite spending billions on illegal immigrants.
Over the past two years, FEMA has received more than $1 billion from taxpayers to specifically support illegal immigrants with housing.
But now the money is falling short for American citizens in need after more than 150,000 households affected by Hurricane Helene asked the federal government for help.
‘FEMA does not have the funds to get through the season,’ Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas surprisingly admitted on Wednesday.
Last week, Congress passed a funding bill with an additional $20 billion allocated to the agency specifically for the anticipated hurricane season.
But it won’t be enough to meet needs after Hurricane Helene devastated Appalachia and the South, killing nearly 200 Americans, and with additional storms on the horizon.
And that’s leaving lawmakers baffled after the taxpayer-funded agency pumped billions into nonprofits that support illegal immigrants.
A law enforcement member examines flood damage following Hurricane Helene on October 2, 2024 in Chimney Rock, North Carolina. The death toll has surpassed 180 people across the southeastern United States due to the storm, according to published reports, which made landfall as a Category 4 storm last Thursday. Mayorkas says FEMA is running out of money to help
FEMA received $640 million to support migrants in fiscal year 2024.
And outrage is growing as the agency has so far refused to reallocate those funds to help Americans in disasters.
“Mayorkas and FEMA: Stop spending money immediately on resettling illegal immigrants and redirect those funds to hurricane-affected areas,” Texas Governor Greg Abbott posted on X. “Put Americans First” .
‘What the fuck!’ Donald Trump Jr. wrote in X in response to a report about FEMA’s coffers being depleted.
Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody also criticized the federal department for prioritizing immigrants over Americans.
“They took FEMA’s emergency food and shelter program and over time diverted hundreds of millions of dollars to basically turn it into an illegal immigrant resettlement program,” he said Thursday.
Mayorkas was impeached by the House of Representatives earlier this year over his handling of the relationship between the United States and Mexico, where lawmakers say authorities have encountered more than 10 million immigrants during his tenure, a record number.
Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas was impeached by Republicans in the House of Representatives earlier this year, but the Senate did not take up the case.
Migrants wait to be processed by U.S. Border Patrol agents after crossing into the U.S. from Mexico on June 14, 2024 in Jacumba Hot Springs, California. FEMA has received more than $1 billion to house noncitizens since 2023
Lawmakers estimate that more than 10 million migrants have been found crossing into the United States in recent years under Joe Biden’s administration.
Many Republicans, and a select few Democrats, have openly criticized his leadership at DHS, saying he is more focused on facilitating the entry of immigrants into the United States than on enforcing laws to restrict the flow of illegal immigration.
This is evident in the 2023 creation of FEMA’s non-citizen-only Shelter and Services Program (SSP).
‘The Shelter and Services Program (SSP) provides funding to state, local, tribal, and nonprofit organizations to support housing and other eligible activities, including facility improvements, to support noncitizen immigrants who have been found and released by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS),’ according to the DHS website.
The program to provide shelters to noncitizens has received more than $1 billion in funding since its inception two years ago.
Its budget nearly doubled from $363.8 million in 2023 to $650 million in 2024.
There has been no indication that this money intended for immigrants will help Americans who find themselves in desperate straits as a result of Hurricane Helene.
“We are meeting the immediate needs with the money we have,” Mayorkas said Wednesday. “We’re hoping for another hurricane.”
Migrants are processed by US Border Patrol agents after crossing into the US from Mexico via an abandoned railroad
Flood damage is seen following Hurricane Helene on October 2, 2024 in Chimney Rock, North Carolina.
Destroyed homes in the mountains of North Carolina
FEMA did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
“Mayorkas says FEMA doesn’t have enough money to survive hurricane season, but apparently it had enough to spend $1 billion resettling illegal aliens in the US in recent years,” wrote Rep. Eric Burlison , Republican of Missouri. in a statement on Thursday.
‘That’s the Biden/Harris administration in a nutshell. They always put Americans last.