Immigrants Are NOT Why FEMA Lacks Funds

Debunking a viral NY Post story that fabricates claims about FEMA funding and immigrants to detract from Republican cruelty and incompetence

A viral NY Post story claims that FEMA lacks funds to support Hurricane Helene victims due to misspending on asylum seekers. The right wing tabloid is fueling dangerous misinformation and disinformation to further demonize immigrants at the southern border. This racist attack is not only false, it detracts from the real reasons FEMA lacks adequate funding, which further harms victims of Hurricane Helene and potential future storms this hurricane season. Let’s Address This.

The New York Post launched their disinformation campaign with this tweet:

You’ll notice that the NY Post makes two completely unrelated statements, and hopes that readers think correlation means causation. The article perpetuated this disinformation, writing:

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas set off outrage Wednesday when he told reporters that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) “does not have the funds” to see Americans through the rest of this Atlantic hurricane season — after the agency spent more than $1.4 billion since the fall of 2022 to address the migrant crisis. “We are meeting the immediate needs with the money that we have. We are expecting another hurricane hitting. We do not have the funds. FEMA does not have the funds to make it through the season.”

Hurricane season ends November 30th. Notice, Mayorkas makes no mention of migrants as the cause of funding shortage. He wouldn’t, because that is simply not the case. Instead, NY Post wants readers to believe that $1.4B over the last three years spent on migrants has caused a FEMA budget shortfall. In reality, migrants have nothing to do with FEMA’s budget shortfall, but for right wing propagandists like the NY Post, facts don’t matter.

So what is the truth of the matter?

Well, anyone condemning FEMA for running out of funds this Hurricane season should know three things:

1. This has happened now two years in a row. FEMA ran low on funds in 2023 and now again in 2024.

2. As any basic civics lesson should teach you, the House controls the purse strings. Therefore, whatever budget FEMA has, is due to the GOP led House—which ultimately controls FEMA budgeting. Therefore, FEMA being short on funds is a result of House Republicans refusing to adequately fund FEMA. This could be because MAGAs don't understand how finances work, or because they don’t believe in climate change, or likely a combination of both. Either way, Republicans seem to always find money for tax cuts for billionaires, private school vouchers for the wealthy, and subsidies for Big Oil and Big Pharma. But apparently funding disaster management during a climate crisis is just too difficult.

3. The reason why Mayorkas doesn’t mention the funds spent on migrants is because $640M is only 2.1% of FEMA's nearly $30B budget. Imagine believing that FEMA is out of money because 2% was spent on migrants—and not because the House GOP which controls the purse strings did not properly fund FEMA now two years in a row.

I summarized the above points in my own viral tweets. And while I was grateful the message landed with those looking for actual facts, my factual tweet still only reached a fraction of the people as the original NY Post propaganda tweet.

Meanwhile, thousands of MAGAs tweeted back to me in colorful language, claiming climate change is a hoax and that we shouldn’t be spending any money on undocumented immigrants anyway.

A snapshot of the responses I received for countering NY Post and MAGA propaganda.

First, asylum is legal immigration, and it is also our constitutional duty to uphold the law. Asylum is a human right protected by American laws as well as international law. Ignoring this obligation violates the law. I find it truly remarkable how the “party of law and order” wants to pick and choose which laws they want to follow. That’s not how law and order works.

Next, not only is allocating resources for migrants a legal requirement, immigrants add far more to our economy than they could ever take. The Institute for Taxation and Economic Policy reports remarkable data you will never see published in the NY Post or any right wing tabloid acknowledge, documenting that:

• Undocumented immigrants paid $96.7 billion in federal, state, and local taxes in 2022. Most of that amount, $59.4 billion, was paid to the federal government while the remaining $37.3 billion was paid to state and local governments.

• Undocumented immigrants paid federal, state, and local taxes of $8,889 per person in 2022. In other words, for every 1 million undocumented immigrants who reside in the country, public services receive $8.9 billion in additional tax revenue.

So to be clear, for anyone outraged that FEMA has spent $640 million on undocumented immigrants, remind them that undocumented immigrants pay nearly 100X that in federal taxes alone. In other words, for every $100 that undocumented immigrants pay in federal taxes, only $1 is spent back on undocumented immigrants. Far from a “leech” on the system, immigrants and undocumented immigrants are a massive boost to our economy. Meanwhile, you’ll never hear MAGAs complain that Donald Trump has hardly paid any federal taxes, and reportedly paid $0 in income taxes in 2020. (To be sure, that is what a “leech” on the economic system looks like).

Finally, just last week nearly 100 Republicans voted against additional FEMA funding—and now blame immigrants for the lack of FEMA funding. Proving once more the anti-immigrant posturing is to detract from the fact that House Republicans continue to underfund FEMA and other critical social welfare programs. Even now Speaker Johnson refuses to call for additional FEMA funding, knowing full well of the dire need.

Do not let racist anti-immigrant rhetoric detract from MAGA incompetence in finance and budgeting. The solution is clear—properly fund FEMA and ensure the people devastated by Hurricane Helene can get the support they need. Unfortunately, that is the one thing the GOP seem incapable of doing. Thus, proving that old saying: Republicans claim government doesn’t work, then they get elected and prove it.