The acting head of the federal agency responsible for responding to disasters said Monday that he’s suspending payments sent to New York City to house migrants and that staff who made them will be held accountable, after Elon Musk blasted the transactions on his social media platform.
Musk, who as head of the Department of Government Efficiency has consolidated control over much of the federal government and is working to cut costs and shrink the workforce, posted on X that his team “just discovered that FEMA sent $59M LAST WEEK to luxury hotels in New York City to house illegal migrants.” He said the money is intended for disaster relief and would be clawed back.
Cameron Hamilton, acting administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, reposted Musk’s comments and said the payments were suspended as of Sunday.
Musk gave no evidence to support his claim, and information from the city of New York indicated that money it’s received to care for migrants was appropriated by Congress and allocated to the city last year by FEMA.
The city hasn’t been notified of any pause in funding, spokeswoman Liz Garcia said. A statement noted that the city has received federal government reimbursements through the past week and said the matter would be discussed directly with federal officials.
Neither Hamilton nor Musk specified what kind of payments were involved. But the comments on X — reposted thousands of times — likely referred to payments made by the Shelter and Services Program, which gives money to reimburse cities, towns or organizations for immigration-related expenses.
FEMA did not respond to questions about the payments. But spokesman Trisha McLaughlin for the Department of Homeland Security — to which FEMA belongs — pointed to recent statements by Secretary Kristi Noem.
“As Secretary Noem said yesterday, we must get rid of FEMA the way it exists today,” McLaughlin told The Associated Press on Monday. “This is yet another egregious example. Individuals who circumvented leadership and unilaterally made this payment will be fired and held accountable.”
When migrants arrive at the border, they’re often released into the U.S. because the federal government doesn’t have enough space to hold them all. Feeding and housing them often falls on local and state governments, as well as nonprofits.
In 2019, with the number of people coming directly to the southern border climbing dramatically, Congress authorized the federal government to reimburse some of those costs. Those were the first such payments and the beginning of the Shelter and Services Program.
The money comes directly from Congress and is specifically for Customs and Border Protection — also part of the Department of Homeland Security. FEMA administers the payments.
The money is separate from the disaster relief fund, which is FEMA’s main funding stream to help people and governments affected by disasters.
The Shelter and Services Program has become a flashpoint for criticism by Republicans, who incorrectly claim it’s taking money from people hit by hurricanes or floods.
Critics also have questioned whether taxpayer money should go to cities and states where right-to-shelter laws mean everyone must be given a place to stay.
