It may not always seem that way, but the federal government has a finite amount of money. It cannot fund everything. So, which group should get preference for assistance, migrants or citizens? Most of you probably think that is a “trick” question. It seems like a no-brainer. Of course, US citizens should get preference when it comes to government largesse.
Unfortunately, under the Biden-Harris Administration (“BH”) that has not always been the case. We have all heard the news reports of illegal immigrants receiving a cornucopia of free stuff, such as food stamps, free lodging in luxury hotels, free flights directly into the US often in the middle of the night, free education, and free medical care, among others. The list of freebies is much more extensive than that, but you get the point. What are the sources of funding for this largesse? Federal? States? Local? I’m not sure, but it is probably from a combination of the three. Meanwhile, some states and local governments are heading for bankruptcy, and the federal government is running deficits that are unsustainable.
In many locales the sheer volume of illegals has overwhelmed social services to the detriment of opportunities for American children, particularly with respect to education, social services, health services, and recreational opportunities. Moreover, the government doesn’t seem to have enough funds or doesn’t care to provide basic services to many military veterans. All too often, the Dems have demonstrated a preference to take care of the needs of illegal migrants over those of American citizens.
In the last few days, in the wake of Hurricane Helene a more unbelievable situation has been exposed. As we all know, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (“FEMA”) is responsible for assisting victims of disasters such as hurricanes. tornadoes, floods, and the like. Typically, these victims are in the most dire of circumstances. They have lost their homes and their personal property. They may need emergency rescue from rubble or flood waters. They may be unable to locate loved ones. They are without basic services such as food, water, shelter, medicine and internet services. As I write this it is being reported that some 700,000 homes and businesses are still without power, approximately one week after Helene passed through. This is unbelievable and unacceptable.
People are overwrought. In short, they are suffering through the worst times of their lives. They need emergency help, and they need it NOW, not tomorrow, not next week, not next month, NOW. In times such as this they rely on FEMA to provide those services. Hours matter. Days matter. Often, this is life or death.
That brings us to the current situation, the aftermath of Hurricane Helene. The following is based on multiple media reports. Helene was one of the most devastating storms in recent years. So far, it ranks as #4 in the US since 1950. It has wreaked havoc and devastation throughout the southeast, affecting six states – FL, GA, NC, SC, TN and VA.
According to published reports at least 200 are known dead, and that number is expected to rise substantially as more bodies are discovered in the rubble and in currently inaccessible areas. Many more are injured or missing. The total damage to property is incalculable at this time. Some houses are buried waist deep in mud. Many cannot or will not be rebuilt. Over 150,000 households have already requested assistance, and according to FEMA spokesman Frank Matranga many more will be doing so. NC Governor Roy Cooper reported that entire towns have been “wiped off the map.” As if that isn’t bad enough many claimants have no or inadequate hurricane damage insurance.
I see two overriding problems. Firstly, FEMA has been slow to provide relief services to many of the areas of devastation, particularly remote areas of North Carolina in and around the Blue Ridge Mountains. As I said, the devastation wrought by Helene was widespread, covering several states including many areas that are relatively inaccessible. That said, FEMA has not done its job. The relief effort appears to be disorganized. People are dying for lack of assistance. FEMA should be doing more.
In the meantime, there have been reports that rather than accepting assistance wherever and whenever it is offered FEMA has actually been slow-walking or even blocking some relief efforts initiated by private citizens. For example, it’s been reported that FEMA has been slow-walking or even blocking Elon Musk’s efforts to restore internet communications in affected areas through his Starlink satellite system. This would be unconscionable.
The other overriding problem is that according to multiple media reports FEMA is running out of funds. It may not have sufficient funds to respond to Hurricane Helene, which is ominous in and of itself. But, even worse, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, who supervises the agency, has told reporters that FEMA will not have enough for the rest of the hurricane season, which runs from June 1 – November 30. He stated, “we are expecting another hurricane hitting. …We do not have the funds to make it through the season and what is imminent.”
Biden, Harris and Trump have all toured the area to assess the damage firsthand. Fine, but that is little comfort to those affected. According to Biden it will cost “billions of dollars to deal with this storm and all the communities affected.” Where will the funding come from? It will come from Congress, of course, in the form of a supplemental bill, but the lawmakers will have to act quickly and decisively, two traits they are not known for. Furthermore, Congress will not be back in session until after ED. The leadership will have to figure out a way to get it passed before then. And that is just for Helene. I agree with Mayorkas that we should expect and anticipate other hurricanes before the end of the season.
But that begs the bigger question. Where is the money that is supposed to have been available right now. Congress provides FEMA’s funding every year. The agency gets an operating budget and a disaster relief fund. The funding is to be used to pay for relief from natural disasters such as floods, hurricanes, earthquakes and the like. In addition, the money is to be allocated to pay for rebuilding from past disasters and to protect communities proactively from prospective disasters. When and if its funds run low it can and does request Congress for “immediate needs funding.” Congress recently approved an additional $20 million for this, but apparently it is mostly gone.
One might ask, how could this happen? What is the remedy? Where has the funding gone? Why didn’t FEMA anticipate this shortfall and request sufficient funding before? Why delay until it’s a crisis? Good questions.
Like most everything else, the answer appears to be political. According to the NY Post, Fox News, various GOP politicians, including Donald Trump, and outside observers such as Elon Musk a major reason for the shortfall is that BH have authorized diverting some $641 million in the current year from FEMA’s emergency fund to pay for various services for migrants. During the last two years the figure is reported to amount to around $1.4 billion. According to the NY Post the DHS has admitted that it “allocated” funds from FEMA’s Shelter and Services Program for funding migrants’ needs.
If this is correct it is downright scandalous and perhaps illegal. In any event, it is another clear case of the Dem government giving preference to illegal migrants over US citizens. Rep Matt Gaetz has reported that his office has received multiple reports from “whistle blowers” confirming this misuse of funds.
Meanwhile according to multiple media reports FEMA has offered affected families $750 for groceries. That paltry amount won’t begin to cover a family’s needs.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott urged Mayorkas and FEMA to “immediately stop spending money on illegal immigration resettlement and redirect those funds to areas hit by [Helene]. Put Americans first.” He is not alone. Congressman Jim Jordan was more blunt. “The Biden-Harris administration took more than a billion tax dollars that had been allocated to FEMA for disaster relief and used it to house illegal aliens. … They’ve abandoned American hurricane victims in NC, GA, FL, SC, and TN [and VA].” Their remarks were echoed by many others.
The Dems and their allies in the media deny these allegations, but I believe them. It is plausible to me. All that migrant money had to come from somewhere, and the feds have been known to play games with interagency funding before.
CONCLUSION
This is another example of the incompetence and deception of the BH Administration. They secretly reallocated funds to pay for migrant services. In doing so, they have severely depleted FEMA’s funds. They acted surreptitiously hoping that no one would find out, because they knew it would be very unpopular, very damaging politically, and possibly illegal. Now, it appears that there may not be sufficient funds to care for Americans who have been devastated by Hurricane Helene, and there is a risk that there will not be sufficient funds for prospective natural disasters this year. They figuratively got caught with their hand in the cookie jar.
The Dems and their allies in the media are denying this, but they have lied about many other things in the past few years, so I don’t think they should get the benefit of the doubt in this case. I would like Congress to commence an investigation into this matter to ascertain the perpetrators of this gross misuse of funds.
Moreover, we should keep in mind that the election is only one month away. In my last blog I opined that the manner in which KK handles this and the other three serious problems I discussed – the dockworkers’ strike and the wars in Ukraine and the ME – would have a profound effect on the election. She could be a hero or a zero. She dodged a bullet with the dockworkers’ strike with a temporary settlement. Good for her. But so far it appears that her handling of this issue will damage her prospects. Two of the devastated states, Georgia and NC, are swing states, and people will likely remember her incompetence on ED.
We Built It Blog by Larry Jacob 