A group of House Democrats on Friday requested an additional $50 million for FEMA’s Emergency Food and Shelter Program (EFSP) as Washington, New York City, and Chicago to cope with an influx of illegal immigrants.
In a letter signed by 23 House Democrats, Reps. Jesús García (Ill.), Adriano Espaillat (N.Y.), and D.C. Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton said that nearly 60 percent of the $150 million EFSP budget remains amid the request for the funding increase.
Norton said that the Democrats wrote to the heads of the Homeland Security Appropriations subcommittee requesting an additional $50 million be included in FEMA’s 2023 budget for EFSP.
“As of July 21, 2022, approximately $85 million of this funding remained available. However, the busing of migrants to D.C., New York City, and Chicago and resettlement in cities like Boston has increased funding requests across the Northeast and the Midwest. Without additional funding, the EFSP may exhaust its funding.”
The Democrats took aim at Texas and Arizona’s Republican governors, Gregg Abbott and Doug Ducey, for their programs to bus apprehended illegal immigrants who claim asylum to Democrat-run cities with so-called sanctuary policies.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s Mission to Secure Border
Abbott launched Operation Lone Star in March last year in response to a rise in illegal immigration. He has consistently cited U.S. President Joe Biden’s “open border” policies for the rise.The White House in late August denied that illegal immigrants are simply walking across the border, but Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) Lt. Chris Olivarez has said, “that is completely false.”
Oliverez said illegal immigration numbers shot up to “unprecedented” numbers in early 2021, including of unaccompanied minors.
Under Operation Lone Star, state law enforcement were directed to interview unaccompanied minors, or children who illegally enter the country without an adult, to identify victims of human trafficking.
More than 7,900 illegal immigrants have been bused from Texas to D.C. since April and over 2,200 to New York City since August, and 300 to Chicago, according to Abbott’s office.
During Operation Lone Star, Texas DPS and the Texas National Guard apprehended 302,600 illegal immigrants and made more than 19,700 criminal arrests, with over 17,200 felony charges reported, according to Abbott’s office.
Authorities have also seized over 340.5 million lethal doses of fentanyl during the border mission, which “would have otherwise made their way into communities across Texas and the nation due to President Biden’s open border policies.”