Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., shared documents Tuesday that purported to show millions of dollars being redirected from FEMA’s budget to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to pay for immigration detention.
The Department of Homeland Security’s “Transfer and Reprogramming Notifications” seemed to order the redirection of money from FEMA to ICE less than a year after Hurricane Maria hit the U.S. last year, and right before the 2018 hurricane season, according to MSNBC.
Merkley told MSNBC Tuesday that the documents showing the $9,755,303 transfer are authentic and the transfer happened this summer.
A DHS spokesperson confirmed the transfer, but said none of the money being transferred to ICE came from disaster response and recovery efforts.
“Under no circumstances was any disaster relief funding transferred from FEMA to immigration enforcement efforts,” DHS spokesperson Tyler Houlton posted to Twitter Tuesday. “This is a sorry attempt to push a false agenda at a time when the administration is focused on assisting millions on the East Coast facing a catastrophic disaster.”
Houlton continued that the money could not have been used for hurricane response due to limitations.
[Also read: Trump on federal response to Puerto Rico: ‘An incredible, unsung success’]
The money in question — transferred to ICE from FEMA’s routine operating expenses — could not have been used for hurricane response due to appropriation limitations. DHS/FEMA stand fiscally and operationally ready to support current and future response and recovery needs.
— Tyler Q. Houlton (@SpoxDHS) September 12, 2018
“It means that just as hurricane season is starting, because it generally starts June 1, the administration is working hard to find funds for additional detention camps, and of course this is all part of the child separation policy,” Merkley said.
The Democratic senator, who has worked against President Trump’s zero tolerance illegal immigration policy, says the nearly $10 million going toward ICE would help to build internment camps for children separated from their families when crossing the border illegally.
