In 2019, Donald Trump ’s administration approved taking over a quarter of a billion dollars from the nation’s national disaster relief coffers to fund his plans for the southern border. Now, the former president is attempting to malign the federal response to Hurricane Helene by lying that the Biden Administration “stole” Federal Emergency Management Agency ( FEMA ) funds to support operations at the border. At a Thursday rally in Saginaw, Michigan, Trump claimed that the Biden-Harris administration “stole the FEMA money like they stole it from a bank so they could give it to their illegal immigrants that they want to have vote for them this season.
” Trump: “They stole the FEMA money just like they stole it from a bank so they could give it to their illegal immigrants who they want to have vote for them.” pic.twitter.
com/r8XDiXWvCA There are multiple falsehoods in this sentence alone. For starters, undocumented migrants and non-citizens cannot vote in elections, and very rarely even attempt to. Second, no money was stolen from FEMA.
In August, the Department of Homeland Security announced “the allocation of over $380 million through the Shelter and Services Program (SSP).” “Through the SSP, DHS directly supports communities that are providing critical support such as food, shelter, clothing, acute medical care, and transportation to noncitizens recently released from DHS custody and awaiting their immigration court proceedings,” DHS wrote in a statemen.
