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WASHINGTON – The Department of Homeland Security has transferred nearly $ 10 million from the Federal Emergency Management Agency to Immigration and Customs, according to a budget document released Wednesday night by a Democratic senator. East cost.
The paper, which was released by the office of Sen. Jeff Merkley of Oregon, shows that the money would come from FEMA's operating and support budget and would be transferred to the CIE accounts to fund holding and withdrawal operations. The document also shows that the Department of Homeland Security has transferred money from customs and border protection accounts, which are used to finance fences and technology at the border.
Mr. Merkley, appearing on Tuesday night on the occasion of the "Rachel Maddow Show" on MSNBC, said the Trump administration was drawing on FEMA's "response and recovery" and "was working hard to find funds for other detention camps ". vocal criticism of immigration policies of the administration.
The Department of Homeland Security denies that the money transferred comes from FEMA relief accounts, which fund work related to hurricanes and other natural disasters.
"Under no circumstances has disaster relief funding been transferred from @fema to the crackdown on immigration," said Tyler Q. Houlton, spokesman for the government. agency. said on Twitter. "It's a sad attempt to push a fake agenda at a time when the administration is focused on helping millions of people on the East Coast face a catastrophic disaster."
Holton added that money transferred from FEMA could not have been used to pay for hurricane relief efforts due to "budget cuts".
"DHS / FEMA is financially and operationally ready to meet current and future response and recovery needs" he said.
The agency said it was ready for Hurricane Florence, which is expected to hit North Carolina and South Carolina, and Virginia on Thursday or Friday. FEMA officials said the hurricane could be the biggest storm to hit the Carolinas and Virginia region "for decades".
The release of budget documents showing transfers of money between FEMA and ICE came after the interview of President Trump during the interview FEMA's efforts in Puerto Rico to deal with hurricanes are "little known success"
"The work that FEMA and the forces of law and order have done together with the Governor in Puerto Rico, I think, has been great," said Trump.
In an early Wednesday Twitter post in the morningMr. Trump doubled the agency's performance: "We have obtained benefits for our recent hurricane work in Texas and Florida (and have done a great job in Puerto Rico, even though an inaccessible island of San Juan). We are ready for the big one that is coming! "
New data shows that nearly 3,000 people died as a result of the hurricane and many people continue to live without electricity on the island. A FEMA post-action report published in July shows that the agency has grossly underestimated the amount of food and freshwater it would need, and how difficult it would be to bring additional supplies to the country. 'island.
The report describes the initial response as chaotic and disorganized and fraught with logistical problems as the agency attempted to deliver food and other equipment to the island.
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