A group of House Democrats on Friday requested an additional $50 million for FEMA’s Emergency Food and Shelter Program (EFSP) as Washington, New York City, and Chicago to cope with an influx of illegal immigrants.
In a letter signed by 23 House Democrats, Reps. Jesús García (Ill.), Adriano Espaillat (N.Y.), and D.C. Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton said that nearly 60 percent of the $150 million EFSP budget remains amid the request for the funding increase.
Norton said that the Democrats wrote to the heads of the Homeland Security Appropriations subcommittee requesting an additional $50 million be included in FEMA’s 2023 budget for EFSP.
“The EFSP provides federal funding for food, shelter, and other necessities. In FY 2022, Congress provided $150 million to this program for humanitarian assistance for migrants,” they wrote in the letter (pdf).
“As of July 21, 2022, approximately $85 million of this funding remained available. However, the busing of migrants to D.C., New York City, and Chicago and resettlement in cities like Boston has increased funding requests across the Northeast and the Midwest. Without additional funding, the EFSP may exhaust its funding.”
The Democrats took aim at Texas and Arizona’s Republican governors, Gregg Abbott and Doug Ducey, for their programs to bus apprehended illegal immigrants who claim asylum to Democrat-run cities with so-called sanctuary policies.
“Since mid-April, the governors of Texas and Arizona have exploited and harmed approximately 10,000 vulnerable people fleeing desperate and dangerous situations in their home countries for political gain by busing them to D.C., New York City, and Chicago,” the Democrats wrote in the letter.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s Mission to Secure Border
Abbott launched Operation Lone Star in March last year in response to a rise in illegal immigration. He has consistently cited U.S. President Joe Biden’s “open border” policies for the rise.
To help border communities in Texas deal with the influx of illegal immigrants Abbott issued a disaster declaration in 48 counties in May to augment additional resources to efforts addressing the immigration crisis at the border (pdf).
The White House in late August denied that illegal immigrants are simply walking across the border, but Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) Lt. Chris Olivarez has said, “that is completely false.”
“They are walking across, in fact,” Oliverez told Newsmax on Sept. 2. “They are walking across from their country of origin, where they’re coming from. When they get to Mexico they’re paying a criminal organization to be smuggled into the United States, where they have to cross a river, or … in most severe cases, they’re having to cross the desert or mountainous terrain, like in West Texas.”
Oliverez said illegal immigration numbers shot up to “unprecedented” numbers in early 2021, including of unaccompanied minors.
Under Operation Lone Star, state law enforcement were directed to interview unaccompanied minors, or children who illegally enter the country without an adult, to identify victims of human trafficking.
More than 7,900 illegal immigrants have been bused from Texas to D.C. since April and over 2,200 to New York City since August, and 300 to Chicago, according to Abbott’s office.
“The busing mission is providing much-needed relief to our overwhelmed border communities,” the Texas governor’s office said in a statement on Friday.
It has cost the Texas Division of Emergency Management over $12 million to transport “migrants processed and released by the federal government in Texas border communities,” the agency told the El Paso Times.
During Operation Lone Star, Texas DPS and the Texas National Guard apprehended 302,600 illegal immigrants and made more than 19,700 criminal arrests, with over 17,200 felony charges reported, according to Abbott’s office.
Authorities have also seized over 340.5 million lethal doses of fentanyl during the border mission, which “would have otherwise made their way into communities across Texas and the nation due to President Biden’s open border policies.”
Busing the migrants to New York and Chicago is a great public relations stunt, but it just MOVES the problem. To SOLVE the problem, we must stop illegals AT OUR BORDER!! If we don’t have a border, we don’t have a country. Governor Abbott, for homeland security reasons, please redouble your efforts to build the Texas wall, and send Texas Rangers to secure our southern border.
Myorkas and Harris both said today the border is secure. So angry at these democrats.
Can’t afford the extra expense for bus loads of illegals? What about Texas and Arizona that have thousands and they aren’t the magnanimous sanctuary in name only dems who are now crying.
Screw the Democrats
Why didn’t the DemocRats request those funds Texas, Arizona. etc. in the first place?! That is a rhetorical question .. (I know the answer and I bet most of you do also!)
The Weaselcrats whine for their ILLEGAL ALIEN TERRORIST INVASION letting in Millions (MILLIONS MORE NOT Reported by FAKE News and White House) and now they are getting them since THEY WANTED THEM.
So they whine for OUR TAX DOLLARS when all they had to do was SECURE the BORDER, DEPORT ALL ILLEGAL ALIEN’S, NOT VIOLATE Oath of Office, NOT VIOLATE U.S. CONSTITUTION, NOT VIOLATE NATIONAL SECURITY ACT, and kept PRESIDENT TRUMP’S policies in place.
Bottom line: If anybody gets $50 million it’s the Southern Border States since the Weaselcrats OPENED the BORDER ILLEGALLY and UNCONSTITUTIONALLY by
THREATENING NATIONAL SECURITY and ENDANGERING AMERICAN LIVES.
Illegals should be given cars, car insurance, free rent, free education. food, , and health care. Why are we so selfish ? Whatever it takes to get them to vote democrat.
The dems are alarmed that the illegals are not voting democrat. They are enraged that after 45 attempts, they still can’t put Trump in jail, that the nation recognizes their president as a buffoon,
that the right will not let go of Hillary’s illegal server and Hunter’s laptop, that their hatred of our nation isn’t accepted, that the nation has said “screw you” to the elimination of police, that they have lost their revered abortion right, and they have run out of ways to save themselves in Nov.
We may see some suicides from the dems which would be good. What we will NOT see are any of
those claiming to leave the US if the repubs win. That will , unfortunately , never happen.
I will get a MAGA tatoo tomorrow.
I am ready to rent a bus, drive to Texas, pick up 10-15 illegals, and dump them out at the the Canadian border. Yes, Canada next. This needs to go international. Fly planeloads of illegals
from Houston to Germany or Moscow. GO….Go… Gov Abbot.
SEND ALL OF THE illegals TO pelosi AND schumer’s HOMES
THE SUB HUMAN, RACIST, LYING, HYPOCRITE AND MENTALLY DEFICIENT, THE QUEEN OF MURDER, THE MAYOR OF chicago, THE MURDER CAPITAL OF THE US HAS THOUSANDS OF GALLONS OF BLAK BLOOD/MURDERS ON her HANDS IS NOW SENDING THE illegals TO THE chicago SUBURBS
HeII NO! Dems cause the fIooding of border states, INTENTIONALLY! Are they concerned about sending those states financiaI reIief??? HeII NO!
Screw the democrats. Make them pay for their bad policies out fo their party treasury!!
The Democrat Party.
You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy.
Tell your leader to CLOSE THE BORDER!!!!
THEY DON’T NEED MONEY because THERE IS NO IMMIGRATION PROBLEM!!!
I hope Texas and Arizona bus ALL ILLEGALS to every Blue State! . . . Let these Economically Strong (Ha, ha) Democratic run States foot the bill for these ILLEGALS THAT THEY DENY EVEN EXIST! . . . MAKE IT THEIR PROBLEM!
BUT they want Sanctuary cities Years ago Reap what U sow Dems
The DemocRats are grasping at straws. They want the swarm of illegals, and they were willing to keep them subsistent from the border state pocketbooks for the most part. Seems to me the non-border states need to contribute to this National problem rather than just the states that are on the Southern border. But this is just another chapter in the DemocRat Party’s way to rig votes in their favor.
Money for what? The MSM keep saying there is no immigration problem.
Send some to Deleware.
Deport them all, stop the inflow and no money will be needed.
The ONLY good thing about Lyin Biden’s open borders policies is that all these illegal drugs are killing drug addicts that are ALL DEMOCRATS ANYWAYS! . . . Sorry, if that seems cold but ONLY Democrats are stupid enough to be drug addicts!
How DUMB are these Democrats?????? If they would use their brain it stands to reason if you close the boarder you would be saving $50 million as well as a larger number of American lives by keeping BOTH these illegals AND fentanyl out of this country. SHAME on you Congress, don’t you think it is about time to take some action and correct this dictators policy.
I never could afford membership in a country club and i did not care, because I live in America and enjoyed the freedoms and perks of citizenship. America is my country and I have paid my dues over 3/4 of a century. Mr. Biden does not have the authority to share Americas wealth with illegal immigrants. The law his office requires him to execute says so. Mr. Biden by failing to do his job cost this nation funds that belong to its citizens and Mr. Biden makes himself a criminal and encourages others to be criminals by failing to do his job!
The travesty at the border is inexcusable. it encourages the importation of illegal drugs, white slavery and child prostitution and human misery. For these reasons, I pray God take his vengeance on the corrupt administration in Washington DC.
Absolutely NOT, these people already have prepaid cards that are $800.00 and have from $800.00 a month to $2200.00 a month given to them EACH from FEMA by our federal treasury offices, each individually, and it’s NOT fair. Forget it, Democrat cities, if our border towns didn’t get any money, then neither CAN YOU!
How much have our border town received? 2 million illegal aliens getting $800.00 to $2200.00 a month. What a travesty when we’re at a 31 trillion dollars in DEBT and we’re in a recession with an 8.3% inflation. What would the inflation rate be if gas was still over $5.00 a gallon. The only reason inflation is not much higher is that the Biden Administration has been pumping one million barrels of oil a day from the strategic oil reserves for the past 5 months. The oil spigot will be turned off on October 22nd just before the midterms. 180 million barrels will have been pumped by then. Where would gas prices be at today? You will see gas prices and inflation grow after the midterm as Biden will not allow us to be come energy independent again.
Exactly as predicted…let the illegals enter at will, then beg for millions more to give them for food, housing, healthcare and transportation. One choice creates the obvious next action. OUR tax dollars being given away while our own citizens are hurting.
So the sauce that goose is is forced to swallow is not good for the gander
this area used to be about 20% Hispanic, but has become about half. The little stuff of them coming isn’t mentioned; My neighborhood is now about half and half, and I have non-emergency dispatch on speed dial for the NOISE. I have neighbors now who want to have loud, outdoor parties every weekend with no thought about their neighbors.
$50 million to FEMA for NY, Chicago, and D.C.?! NO WAY!!! ANY extra money should go down to the border towns! They’re in way worse shape than the DemoRat run cities!!!
Suck it up Democrats!!! If we have to endure these ILLEGALS coming in so does the Blue states.
Tell the Dems to get their $50 million from the illegals’ remittances to Mexico, which are a record-breaking $50 billion this year.
Where’s Texas and Arizona’s extra $50 million x 1000 for all the felons and diseased parasite ILLEGAL INVADERS coming for the fraud puppet’s freebies via the fraud administration’s wide open orders?
I hear Portland Oregon is next on the busing schedule….
Decency and good common sense are sorely lacking in Washington these days……this applies to ALL the politicians in that city……..the moral compass is not working in our politicians……and I am a Catholic and I blame Catholic services for financing these illegals who btw could be terrorists, perverts, rapists. Spreading disease and drugs into our society…..we are in a world of hurt folks
Where is the funding for Texas and Arizona?
I hate to say it but it seems no matter how much we cry about this cr*p that the unrighteous incompetent leaders are pulling in washington. Nothing will be done . They don’t give a rats a** about whats happening . All we can do is keep giving them the same cr*p they are giving us .
OnlY $50,000,00??? Now! How much more sooner or later??? You want “Sanctuary Cities?” That is your freaking problem!!!! Why no funding for the border states??? It is a joke and the tax payers better wake up. STOP PAYING FOR SELF INFLICTED WOUNDS. HOW ABOUT HELPING THE BORDER STATES??????????????? TURN THE WATER OFF AND THE FLOOD WILL SUBSIDE.
Hell no they have already wasted enough money and the states that have grown due to this influx aren’t receiving help.They need to shut down the border not spend money for accomodations
These dems, and many others, belong to the SDI Club. Stupid, dumb and ignornite…Just close the southern border…problemSOLVED
I’m no rocket scientist, but it seems to me, the comon sense solution to solve this problem is simply close the borders and deport all illegals.Is something wrong with this logic?
50 Million is pocket money for Soros, the culprit of this mess with his Open Borders Foundation and his funding of illegal immigration. He should be the one shouldering the cost of this aberration.
As of note: Yesterday, at Ft Lauderdale airport, on my way home (Baltimore) from a short stay in Miami Beach, Security padded me thoroughly (underarms, breasts, waist, legs up and down, in and out: then, the agent proceded to pull the back waist of my pants and looked inside my back side in front of everybody!), no mercy. Not been enough, a strange substance was rubbed on the palms of my hands, maybe to look for explosives/narcotics residue. That substance left a burning sensation in my hands and I can’t get rid of it. I am a scary looking, extremely suspicious 70 yr old gray haired, 5 ft, 110 lb FEMALE, retired nurse, LEGAL American citizen. In the time that it took to humiliate me, probably a few hundred illegals crossed the border carrying narcotics and what not. This is how things are done in this regime.
Where’s the money for Texas and Arizona, to try to feed and shelter, the over 4 million illegals that have broken and entered our nation.