A FEMA response team member works with a guard member at Crooked Creek Fire Department near Old Fort in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene on Sept. 30, 2024, in Old Fort, North Carolina. (Photo by Sean Rayford/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON – As Hurricane Milton slams into Florida, and North Carolina residents dig out from Hurricane Helene, Republicans are pushing claims – widely debunked – that federal disaster aid has been depleted because of illegal immigration.
“FEMA, among a whole bunch of other federal agencies, has been using your tax dollars that are supposed to help you as American citizens,” said U.S. House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-Louisiana, during a campaign stop Tuesday in Phoenix on behalf of former President Donald Trump. “They use that money helping illegals here that they brought into America.”
Trump has repeatedly made the same sort of claims. In fact, the Federal Emergency Management Agency separates funds authorized by Congress for disaster relief from funds to help cities and states shelter migrants.
But in times of crisis, concerns about diversion or mismanagement of scarce resources can drive votes.
“These national disasters always have political implications,” said Republican consultant John Feehery, who served as an aide to House Speaker Dennis Hastert and other GOP House leaders.
Linking concerns about spending with concerns about border security is a strong combination, he added.
“It does give energy to Republicans who are already skeptical of the competence of this administration, and also the spending priorities of this administration,” he said. “They are not happy with how much money has been spent to resettle both legal and illegal immigrants in the United States.”
Congress added $20 billion to FEMA’s disaster relief fund last month as part of a stopgap spending package. But fiscal hawks in the GOP blocked billions more. Some House Republicans from the six states hit days later by Hurricane Helene – Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee and Virginia – voted against the $20 billion.
So did five of six Arizona Republicans in the House – all but Rep. Juan Ciscomani of Tucson.
Some have echoed Scalise’s claims. Rep. Paul Gosar of Bullhead City called the federal response to Helene “non-existent,” falsely accusing Vice President Kamala Harris of diverting billions of dollars in FEMA disaster relief funds to accommodate migrants.
Rep. Andy Biggs of Gilbert asserted on social media that taxpayer dollars are “bankrolling illegal aliens under the guise of ‘disaster relief.’”
The mainstream media wants you to forget these headlines.
Don’t be fooled: Your taxpayer dollars are bankrolling illegal aliens under the guise of “disaster relief.” pic.twitter.com/x3wOAHGv27
— Rep Andy Biggs (@RepAndyBiggsAZ) October 8, 2024
Border security is an acute concern in Arizona, said Paul Bentz, a Republican pollster at Phoenix-based HighGround consulting firm.
“It’s one of the areas that drives turnout among Republicans and has been a vulnerability” for the Biden-Harris administration, he said.
Disaster relief provides political fodder for candidates in both parties.
Trump has falsely accused Biden of ignoring calls from Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, a Republican – a claim that Kemp himself quickly denied. Trump also accused Harris of diverting relief aid to migrants and ignoring the suffering in North Carolina after Helene struck.
“The victims of this terrible hurricane have become political pawns in a hyperpartisan struggle between groups trying to lay the blame at the feet of the other party,” Bentz said.
Harris hit back Wednesday, chiding Trump for lying about federal support for hurricane victims.
“It is dangerous, it is unconscionable, frankly, that anyone who considers themselves a leader would mislead desperate people to the point that those desperate people would not receive the aid to which they are entitled,” she told CNN’s Dana Bash.
Her campaign launched digital ads on Monday featuring former Trump aides recounting that, as president, he tried to withhold federal disaster funds from areas where Democrats are dominant.
FEMA is part of the Department of Homeland Security, which also includes the Border Patrol and Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
In 2019, under Trump, DHS transferred $155 million from FEMA’s Disaster Relief Fund for ICE to provide migrant transportation and detention.
Navigating disaster response and funding has long been a political minefield.
The botched federal response to Hurricane Katrina in 2005 clouded President George W. Bush’s second term, as did his praise early in the crisis for FEMA director Michael Brown, who he said was doing “a heck of a job.” Bush later blamed serious mismanagement at FEMA.
Katrina was the costliest storm in American history, causing $125 billion in damage in New Orleans and along the Gulf Coast.
As with many disasters, Republicans in Congress were divided on how to cover the costs, and how much to spend.
When Hurricane Sandy slammed into the Democratic strongholds of New York and New Jersey in 2012, 179 Republicans in the House opposed a $50 billion relief package, including 58 who had supported Katrina relief.
A photo of President Barack Obama comforting New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, a Republican, would later haunt Christie’s presidential hopes.
Shortly after Sandy hit, Obama defeated GOP challenger Mitt Romney, now a senator from Utah, who had advocated for dismantling FEMA. Roughly 15% of voters said Obama’s response to Sandy was the top factor in casting a vote for him, according to exit polls.
