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Republican Dept of Homeland Security Steals $155,000,000 From FEMA Disaster Relief Fund to Jail and Deport Asylum Seekers
We’re experiencing more natural disasters than ever before. Climate change is only making them more deadly. Now, Trump is taking critical money from FEMA to further his cruel anti-immigration agenda.
The Trump administration plans to shift at least $155 million from the Federal Emergency Management Agency disaster relief fund to support its policy of returning some migrants to Mexico.
The Department of Homeland Security has informed Congress it will reprogram and transfer $271 million in total to its immigration enforcement agency from elsewhere in the department, including the FEMA money....
As we enter peak hurricane & wildfire season, the administration is raiding millions of dollars from FEMA to pay for their inhumane immigration policies.
"The Trump administration's plan to divert money away from FEMA at the start of hurricane season to continue its efforts to separate and jail migrant families is backwards and cruel," Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said. "Taking these critical funds from disaster preparedness and recovery efforts threatens lives and weakens the government's ability to help Americans in the wake of natural disasters. Congress appropriated these funds to meet the American people's priorities and I strongly oppose this effort to undermine our constitutional authority."
This is contrary to our values and interests, and endangers us all.
In a letter to acting Homeland Security Secretary Kevin McAleenan, Democratic Rep. Lucille Roybal-Allard of California, chair of the House Homeland Security Appropriations Subcommittee, opposed the reprogramming of funds, saying she had "significant concerns about the intended use of funds" and the shifting of funds from other components.
House Homeland Security Chairman Bennie Thompson said in a statement that the administration is "flouting the law and Congressional intent to fund its extremist indefinite detention immigration policies. Taking money away from TSA and from FEMA in the middle of hurricane season could have deadly consequences. Congress should work to undo the damage this Administration is continually doing to our homeland security infrastructure."
This funding should be used to care for communities when tragedy strikes, not lock up immigrants fleeing poverty & violence.
Last year, the department was also sharply criticized for shifting around $10 million from the Federal Emergency Management Agency's operating budget to fund immigration detention and deportations. The administration also quietly redirected $200 million from multiple parts of DHS to ICE last summer.
Sources:
https://www.cnn.com/2019/08/27/politics/fema-immigration-enforcement-dorian/index.html