Today the survivors of Hurricane Helene are being told that FEMA does not have enough resources/money to help them. This was foreseeable and purposeful. And all the money came at the expense of emergency preparedness.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and others have demanded that the Biden-Harris administration finally put Americans first.
Hurricane Helene has killed hundreds of Americans across six states, obliterated entire homesteads, and left most of our citizens homeless, hungry, and without power.
Unfortunately, according to Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, the Federal Emergency Management Agency lacks the requisite funds.
During a press briefing Wednesday, Mayorkas told reporters, "We are meeting the immediate needs with the money that we have. We are expecting another hurricane hitting. We do not have the funds."
Congress recently poured $20 billion into FEMA's disaster relief fund and enabled the agency to draw on the funds with greater ease, reported the Associated Press.
"FEMA does not have the funds to make it through the season and what is imminent," added Mayorkas.
President Joe Biden has suggested that Congress might have to approve additional funding for disaster relief. Government spending watch dogs have raised the matter of where the original funds went — realizing that much of it was used up helping illegal aliens here under Mayorkas' department.
FEMA's shelter and services program provides "financial support to non-federal entities to provide humanitarian services to noncitizen migrants following their release from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The intent is to support CBP in the safe, orderly and humane release of noncitizen migrants from short-term holding facilities."
The total funding for this program in fiscal year 2024 was $650 million. The funding total in fiscal year 2023 was $363.8 million. Hundreds of millions were previously awarded by FEMA for migrants through the emergency food and shelter program.
Earlier this year, nearly $19.6 million in FEMA funds was used to pay for an illegal alien welcome center in San Diego County.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) wrote, "This is easy. Mayorkas and FEMA — immediately stop spending money on illegal immigration resettlement and redirect those funds to areas hit by the hurricane. Put Americans first."
Rep. Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.) in a tweet, "FEMA spending over a billion dollars on illegals while they leave Americans stranded and without help is treasonous. U.S. citizens are dying. Pray for our country folks."
"'The Biden-Harris FEMA spent over $1 BILLION on funding illegal aliens.' America LAST," wrote Rep. Eli Crane (R-Ariz.).
While the DHS continues funding illegal aliens, FEMA will make a one-time $750 payment available to some qualifying Americans in Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia so that they can buy food, water, and other supplies.
According to the FEMA website, the agency's top strategic goal is to "instill equity as a foundation of emergency management. We are meeting the immediate needs with the money that we have,” Mayorkas said during a presser on Air Force One en route to tour damage from Hurricane Helene in South and North Carolina. We are expecting another hurricane hitting,” he added. “We do not have the funds. FEMA does not have the funds to make it through the season and what — what is imminent.”
Instead, the Department of Homeland Security has allocated $640.9 million this year in FEMA-administered funds to aid state and local governments coping with the influx of asylum seekers.
DHS allocated $780 million for the migrant crisis last year through the FEMA Shelter and Services Program and the FEMA Emergency Food and Shelter Program.
Only $4 million has been paid directly to families and individuals in the week since Hurricane Helene ravaged the Southeast, killing at least 202 people and causing severe flooding damage from Florida to North Carolina, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Thursday. Those funds are from a $10 million FEMA allocation that allows storm victims grants of $750 for groceries.
Biden said in North Carolina that “It’s going to cost billions of dollars to deal with this storm and all the communities affected. And Congress has an obligation to ensure the states have the resources they need.”
“Connect the dots, if you can,” wrote Tim Murtaugh, an adviser to former President Donald Trump’s campaign. “DHS says FEMA might not have enough cash to help people through hurricane season. But in two years of a new Biden-Harris program, they’ve spent $1 BILLION on housing and other services for migrants.”
Editorial comments expressed in this column are the sole opinion of the writer.
