Congressman Gaetz Demands Answers from DHS Sec. Mayorkas on FEMA Redirecting $1.4 Billion to Aid Illegal Aliens

The Office of Rep. Gaetz has been in contact with numerous whistleblowers who have stated FEMA has severe mismanagement issues, which left federal, state, and local responders on the ground to assist with Hurricane Helene recovery efforts without deployment orders. This comes after DHS redirected $1.4 billion of taxpayer dollars on illegal aliens due to Border Czar Kamala Harris' open-border policies. Now, DHS Secretary Mayorkas told reporters that FEMA "does not have enough funds to make it through the [hurricane] season."

Full text of Congressman Gaetz's letter to DHS Secretary Mayorkas can be found HERE. Additionally, exclusive coverage of the letter by DailyMail can be found HERE.

LETTER TEXT

Dear Secretary Mayorkas:

Yesterday, you stated that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), which is a part of your department, "does not have enough funds to make it through the [hurricane] season." This news comes after FEMA has spent hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars on migrants due to Border Czar Kamala Harris' open border instead of prioritizing funding for Americans impacted by disasters.

My office has been in contact with whistleblowers in numerous emergency-management functions at the federal, state, and local levels, and they all point to the same critical mismanagement issues. FEMA has wasted taxpayer funds, misappropriated funds, and left other federal, state, and local responders without deployment orders on the ground. As reported and further confirmed by my office, hundreds, if not thousands of service members were deployed by the Department of Defense to North Carolina and have sat idle, waiting for FEMA. We have confirmed FEMA employees deployed, on the clock, awaiting orders in hotels. FEMA pre-disaster aid was withheld, exacerbating the emergency. It is also public that NGOs have purchased airline tickets for migrants through the use of FEMA funds.

The aftermath of Hurricane Helene is a major disaster, and your waste and unpreparedness are leaving Americans in distress-unable to access food, water, or medicine-and expecting help, with none coming.

Please provide answers to the following questions to my office by October 11, 2024:

1. What policies and regulations of the Department of Homeland Security and FEMA prevent emergency funds from being wasted on illegal immigrants, including what conditions are placed on grantees of the agency?; and
2. Of FEMA's total budget for FY 2024, what portion of funds can be guaranteed to have been spent solely on American citizens, and what portion of funds was or may have been spent on noncitizens?; and
3. In FY 2024, what portion of funds in the Disaster Relief Fund have been spent on non-disaster-relief programs, such as providing services to illegal aliens or providing routine training to FEMA employees authorized out of general appropriations?

Sincerely,

Matt Gaetz
Member of Congress

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