Page 15 - HOH

A4 U.S. NEWS
Wednesday 28 august 2019

U.S. moves FEMA, Coast Guard

money to fund border programs

WASHINGTON (AP) — The The news comes as hurri- where migrants are sent
Department of Homeland cane season is ramping up are violent and unsafe.
Security is moving $271 mil- and Tropical Storm Dorian The money will come out of
lion from other agencies is heading toward Puerto unobligated money from
such as FEMA and the U.S. Rico. the base disaster relief fund
Coast Guard to increase The sprawling 240,000-per- at FEMA, lawmakers said.
the number of beds for son Homeland Security De- Democratic House mem-
In this July 17, 2019, file photo, three migrants who had man- detained immigrants and partment includes the Fed- bers strongly disagreed
aged to evade the Mexican National Guard and cross the Rio support its policy forcing eral Emergency Manage- and accused DHS of going
Grande onto U.S. territory walk along a border wall set back asylum seekers to wait in ment Agency, the Coast around their specific ap-
from the geographical border, in El Paso, Texas, as seen from Mexico while their cases Guard and the new Cyber- propriations.
Ciudad Juarez, Mexico. play out. security and Infrastructure The chairwoman of the
Associated Press
Security Agency in addition House Appropriations
to immigration agencies. homeland security sub-
It is not uncommon for un- committee, Lucille Roybal-
assigned funds to be trans- Allard of California, said the
ferred between agencies reprogramming would sup-
under the same depart- port "inhumane" programs
ment as the fiscal year and take away necessary
ends. Last year around the funding for other agencies.
same time, about $200 mil- "I am greatly concerned
lion was transferred, includ- that during the course of
ing $10 million from FEMA this administration, there
that prompted major criti- has been a growing dis-
cism from Democrats. connect between the will
Homeland Security officials of Congress ... and the
said in a statement Tuesday implementation of the De-
they would transfer $155 partment's immigration en-
million to create tempo- forcement operations," she
rary facilities along the U.S.- said in a statement.
Mexico border for hold- House Homeland Security
ing hearings with the aim Committee Chairman Ben-
of moving asylum cases nie Thompson, a Mississippi
through the system faster. Democrat, said DHS was
The government has sent flouting congressional in-
more than 30,000 people tent. "Taking money away
back to Mexico to wait out from TSA and from FEMA
their immigration cases in in the middle of hurricane
an effort to deter migrants season could have deadly
from making a danger- consequences," he said.
ous journey to the U.S. and Homeland Security officials
ease the crush of families will also transfer $116 mil-
from Central America that lion to fund detention bed
has vastly strained the sys- space for U.S. Immigration
tem. Asylum seekers gen- and Customs Enforcement.
erally had been released Congress allocated 45,000
into the U.S. and allowed to beds for detention, but as
work, but many Trump ad- of Aug. 24, ICE was detain-
ministration officials believe ing 54,344 people. Con-
migrants take advantage gress specifically did not
of the laws and stop show- authorize additional ICE
ing up to court. Lawyers for funding for detention beds
migrants waiting in Mexico when it approved an emer-
have reported major prob- gency supplemental fund-
lems reaching clients and ing request of about $1.3
getting them to the U.S. for billion from Homeland Se-
their hearings. And some curity to manage the huge
of the locations in Mexico increase in migrants.q