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