The Trump administration has transferred $ 9.8 million from FEMA to ICE: NPR

This summer, the Trump administration has transferred nearly $ 10 million to the agency that responds to disasters and emergencies, redirecting it to one of President Trump's priorities, namely the expulsion of undocumented residents from states -United.

According to a document sent to Congress and published by Democrat Senator Jeff Merkley, D-Ore, the transfer of funds encourages the Federal Emergency Management Agency to reduce training, computer security and infrastructure investments.

Merkley calls the transfer "reprehensible," and immigration advocates point to an alarming shift in priorities, but the White House is convinced that the redistribution of funds will have no detrimental effect on the response to the crisis. Hurricane Florence.

In a briefing on Wednesday, a FEMA response and recovery officer told reporters that the agency had "a lot of resources" to respond to the storm, which is now approaching the Carolinas and Georgia.

The transfer of funds to Immigration and Customs Enforcement "had no impact on our situation," said Jeff Byard, Associate Administrator of a branch of FEMA.

The transfer of funds was revealed in a June 30 document obtained by Merkley, a vocal critic of Trump's immigration policies, which has drawn attention to the separation of families at home. border. His office shared the file with NPR.

The Department of Homeland Security, which includes both FEMA and ICE, told Congress that the ICE needed an additional $ 200 million to cover the costs of holding and keeping the money. expulsion of migrants larger than expected.

To cover the shortfall, DHS has "reprogrammed" its financial resources, which is allowed by the budgetary rules.

Among other things, he redirected $ 9.75 million from FEMA's regional budgets for operations, response and recovery, mitigation, mission support, and training. forces of order.

Merkley, who is a member of the Senate Credits Committee but does not sit on the Homeland Security Subcommittee, nevertheless acquired a copy of the document describing the transfer and released it on Tuesday. He appeared on MSNBC to discuss the transfer.

On Twitter, Merkley called the decision to transfer funds from FEMA – just before the hurricane season – "incredible" and "reprehensible".

DHS argues in the paper that the impact on FEMA will be "minimal".

Due to the loss of $ 9.75 million, FEMA "will reduce training, travel, public engagement sessions, support for computer security and infrastructure maintenance," writes DHS.

Without the transfer, the document states that "ICE will not be able to expel those who have violated the immigration laws." ICE could also be forced to curtail its current operations of enforcing the law. law in the interior ".

FEMA receives more than $ 16 billion in funding each year, about double the amount of CIE funding.

The transfer was approved by the Republican Presidents of the Parliamentary Appropriations Subcommittees of the House and Senate, but not by the rest of the Subcommittee members.

Democrat Senator Patrick Leahy of Vermont, Deputy Chair of the Senate Credits Committee and a member of the Homeland Security Subcommittee, sent a statement to NPR denouncing the "heavy price" of Canada's immigration policies. Trump.

"Now our east coast is even more vulnerable to hurricane Florence," Leahy said. "I hope the administration will see the consequences of its actions and start working with Republicans and Democrats to tackle the problems of our immigration system."

The Department of Homeland Security has vigorously resisted any suggestion that the transfer of funds would have affected disaster preparedness.

DHS spokesman Tyler Houlton described Merkley's announcement as "an unfortunate attempt to push a fake program", without denying the document's authenticity.

Houlton said the funds did not come from disaster relief funding, which is a segregated fund within FEMA, and as a result could not be used for hurricane response.

Moira Whelan, a former DHS official, told the Washington Post that Houlton "was analyzing the words" because money outside the disaster relief fund is still being used to prepare for disasters and improve their response.

Ray Zaccaro, Merkley's director of communications, told NPR that the administration's response had been "defensive and completely misleading".

"This comment from the FEMA spokesperson is as factual as the President 's assertion that the Administration' s response to Hurricane Maria was" incredibly successful "and" l '. one of the best jobs ever made, "said Zaccaro.

Meanwhile, immigration advocates worry not only about the source of the money, but also the destination.

"The priorities of this administration may never be clearer than this transfer document: cruelty to compassion, while Puerto Rican families struggled to survive a disaster largely ignored by our government, the White House and DHS, and beloved community members, "said Heidi Altman, director of politics at the National Immigrant Justice Center, to NPR by email.

"DHS has become masterful in manipulating the ownership process to pursue its political agenda of imprisoning and deporting as many immigrants as possible," she said. "Congress has every power to reign in this mismanagement and systemic abuse that it allows."

Last June, a group of immigrants and human rights groups appealed to DHS for "asking for forgiveness rather than permission after spending too much money in a morally reprehensible and fiscally irresponsible way."

The Senate Credits Subcommittee on Homeland Security has expressed, less publicly, similar concerns.

A June report by Republican Subcommittee Chair Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia described "persistent and growing concerns about ICE's lack of fiscal discipline."

"The Committee strongly discourages requests for transfer or reprogramming to cover the excesses of ICE," says the report. Future applications should include "transparent and publicly available evidence" that money is needed because of "circumstances … that are really out of control of ICE," Senators said.

FEMA redirected funds this summer only covered a small portion of ICE's excessive spending. (A portion of the funds transferred also covered additional costs incurred by the secret services to protect the White House.)

According to the document published by Merkley, other DHS operations have also seen their budgets reduced to cover the costs of detention and deportation.

The Coast Guard loses $ 14 million in maintenance spending, while the Federal Air Marshals program is being reduced and the WMD office is not receiving funding for the defense. planning and training.