Donald Trump floated a shocking new theory about President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris’ intentional use of FEMA money for illegal immigrants.
Fielding questions from reporters during a campaign visit to survey Hurricane Helene damage in Asheville, North Carolina, on Monday the president remarked on how the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has done a poor job dealing with the fallout from the storm.
‘Our FEMA when we had a problem we did record rescues,’ Trump boasted. ‘The job that FEMA did under the Trump administration was really incredible.’
Then on a tangent, he tore into FEMA’s controversial fund to help non-U.S. citizens, conjuring up a new conspiracy that Biden and Harris may be using that money to bring migrants into the country to secure their vote for the Democrats.
Former president and Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump comments on relief efforts with local leaders during a tour of Hurricane Helene devastation in Swannanoa, North Carolina, 21 October 2024.
FEMA under Biden and Harris ‘spent hundreds of millions of dollars doing others things,’ Trump told the crowd at the hurricane-damaged location.
‘Things that I don’t think bear any relationship to this money,’ he said.
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The ex-president was seemingly referring to FEMA’s non-citizen-only Shelter and Service Program (SSP).
Over the last two years, FEMA has received more than $1 billion taxpayer dollars to specifically support illegal migrants with housing and humanitarian services through this program.
It was created to provide shelters for non-citizens has seen its budget nearly double from $363.8 million in 2023 to $650 million 2024.
Additionally, $780 million of FEMA’s Emergency Food and Shelter Program has been allocated for non-citizens since 2022.
‘They were not supposed to be spending the money on taking in illegal migrants,’ Trump said before floating that ‘maybe’ the migrants were given money ‘so they could vote in the election.‘
Trump said that ‘maybe’ migrants are given funds from FEMA ‘so they could vote in the election’
Debris from Hurricane Helene is piled up on land owned by the city of Asheville
Signs are seen at a FEMA Disaster Recovery Center at A.C. Reynolds High School in Asheville
'Because that's why a lot of people are saying they're doing it,' Trump qualified his speculative answer.
'I don't know,' the Republican continued. 'I hope that's not why they're doing.'
However, there has been no evidence offered by Trump or his campaign that supports the novel theory.
In the immediate aftermath of the historic Hurricane Helene Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas admitted that FEMA may not have the money to make it through the storm season.
FEMA's SSP allocated over $1 billion to shelter and support non-citizens since 2022
Migrants from Nepal, India and Bangladesh sit waiting for a ride from Border Patrol after crossing into the U.S. illegally
This outraged Americans who were living without water and power in impacted neighborhoods, like Asheville.
Over 150,000 American citizens have reached out for federal assistance after their homes were damaged by Hurricane Helene, many have expressed frustration with recuperating after the storm.
The money allocated to FEMA's SSP fund, notably, was approved by Congress, which is partially controlled by Republicans.
FEMA 'spent their money on illegal migrants!' Trump claimed later in the day to a crowd in Greenville, North Carolina, receiving boos in response.
'They didn't have any money left for North Carolina.'