Andy Harris

16/04/2024 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 16/04/2024 22:16

Congressman Harris Questions FEMA Administrator on Why Millions Of Dollars In Grants Are Going To Cities Housing Illegal Immigrants

Washington, D.C. - Congressman Andy Harris M.D. (MD-01), member of the Homeland Security Appropriations Subcommittee, released the following statement in response to his questioning of Federal Emergency Management (FEMA) Administrator, Deanne Criswell in FEMA's budget request hearing today. In the hearing, which primarily focused on Administrator Criswell's request for additional funding from Congress, Congressman Harris asked for an explanation on FEMA's recent statement announcing that $300 million in Shelter and Services Program (SSP) grants will go towards helping cities with the increased costs of "noncitizen" or illegal immigrant arrivals. In continuation of this line of questioning, Congressman Harris asked Administer Criswell to state which cities will be recipients of the grants -- to which Administer Criswell did not have an answer.

In the hearing, Congressman Harris also noted that it appears New York City, which is receiving a record number of illegal immigrants, is one of the largest recipients of the grant funds. Given Administrator Criswell's previous employment with New York City, Congressman Harris asked the Administrator to clarify that her former employment played no role in the decision to allocate large amounts of SSP grant funding to New York city.

Background:

On April 11th, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), through the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), announced $300 million in grants through the Shelter and Services Program (SSP). The funds are slotted to off-set allowable costs incurred for services associated with noncitizen migrant arrivals in their communities.

Statement From Congressman Harris:

"FEMA's stated mission is to "help people before, during, and after disasters" but in today's hearing, Administrator Criswell refused to describe the crisis occurring at our southern border as a disaster. With millions of illegal immigrants pouring across our southern border, deadly fentanyl poisoning our country, and human traffickers using our southern border as a place to smuggle victims, there is no doubt the situation at our border is a disaster and FEMA should be using their resources to solve it rather than fund its continuation. It is also a grave concern that the FEMA Administrator's former employer appears to be one of the largest recipients of SSP grant funds and I look forward to receiving an explanation from the Administrator on this."

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