A Federal Emergency Management Agency spokesperson on Wednesday slammed Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., for saying the Department of Homeland Security agency transferred nearly $10 million from FEMA to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to help with the costs of detaining illegal immigrants, instead of using the money for emergency relief efforts.
“After calling @SenJeffMerkley staff to inform them of the facts surrounding @FEMA budget we were told ‘It’s a TV hit, you take it where you can’ — regardless of the facts?” FEMA spokeswoman Jenny Burke wrote on Twitter Wednesday.
[Also read: Trump says feds succeeded in Puerto Rico despite ‘totally incompetent’ San Juan mayor]
After calling @SenJeffMerkley staff to inform them of the facts surrounding @FEMA budget we were told “It’s a TV hit, you take it where you can” – regardless of the facts?
— Jenny Burke (@FEMAspox) September 12, 2018
On Tuesday evening, Merkley released documents he said indicated FEMA sent $9.8 million to ICE this month. Merkley claimed it was to fund housing and detention centers for illegal immigrants.
But a DHS official on Wednesday said in a written statement the $9.8 million of additional funds in FEMA’s operations account was transferred to a different agency because congressional appropriations rules prevented that pot of money from being repurposed for disaster relief.
The savings came from operational expenses that came in under budget, including employee travel expenses, training, basic purchase cards, office supplies, and headquarters overhead support, according to that official.
If the money was not sent elsewhere and used before the end of fiscal year 2018 – Sept. 30., FEMA would have forfeited it.
The disaster relief fund currently stands at $25 billion. The operations team’s inability to spend all of the money it was allotted will not affect hurricane recovery and other federal aid requests for Americans struck by natural disasters.
“The mission-impact on FEMA response and recovery of this transfer of funds is zero,” according to DHS.
DHS press secretary Tyler Houlton responded late Tuesday to say the money in question was not disaster relief funding and also was not transferred for the sake of funding immigration enforcement efforts.
“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,” Houlton said.
