WASHINGTON — 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,” Mayorkas said during a press gaggle on Air Force One en route to tour damage from Hurricane Helene in South and North Carolina.
“We are expecting another hurricane hitting,” he added. “We do not have the funds. FEMA does not have the funds to make it through the season and what — what is imminent.”
Critics pointed out that the Department of Homeland Security has allocated $640.9 million this year in FEMA-administered funds to aid state and local governments coping with the influx of asylum seekers.
“This is easy. Mayorkas and FEMA — immediately stop spending money on illegal immigration resettlement and redirect those funds to areas hit by the hurricane. Put Americans first,” Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott tweeted Wednesday.
“Yeah!” added Elon Musk, the billionaire owner of X and CEO of Tesla and SpaceX.
Abbott is a top critic of Mayorkas’ mass parole of asylum seekers into the US after President Biden repudiated former President Donald Trump’s “Remain in Mexico” policy — with the governor busing migrants to Democrat-led jurisdictions such as New York City, forcing local budget cuts to house them.
Over two years, more than $1.4 billion has been committed from FEMA-administered programs to support non-federal entities that are taking care of migrants.
DHS says it allocated $780 million for the migrant crisis last year through the FEMA Shelter and Services Program and the FEMA Emergency Food and Shelter Program.
A relatively paltry $4 million has been paid directly to families and individuals in the week since Hurricane Helene ravaged the Southeast, killing at least 202 people and causing severe flooding damage from Florida to North Carolina, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Thursday.
Those funds are from a $10 million FEMA allocation that allows storm victims grants of $750 for groceries.
Biden said Wednesday during an operational briefing on Hurricane Helene in North Carolina that “It’s going to cost billions of dollars to deal with this storm and all the communities affected. And Congress has an obligation to ensure the states have the resources they need.”
Those comments stoked outrage among congressional Republicans, who are not due back in session until after Election Day.
“The Biden-Harris administration took more than a billion tax dollars that had been allocated to FEMA for disaster relief and used it to house illegal aliens,” fumed Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio). “Now, they’ve abandoned American hurricane victims in North Carolina, Georgia, Florida, South Carolina, and Tennessee.”
Rep. Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.), whose district neighbors the disaster zone, tweeted: “FEMA spending over a billion dollars on illegals while they leave Americans stranded and without help is treasonous. U.S. citizens are dying. Pray for our country folks.”
Rep. Eli Crane (R-Ariz.) added: “‘The Biden-Harris FEMA spent over $1 BILLION on funding illegal aliens. America LAST.”
“Connect the dots, if you can,” wrote Tim Murtaugh, an adviser to former President Donald Trump’s campaign. “DHS says FEMA might not have enough cash to help people through hurricane season. But in 2 years of a new Biden-Harris program, they’ve spent $1 BILLION on housing and other services for migrants.”
FEMA did not immediately respond to The Post’s request for comment.
