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Possible ‘illegal’ use of $81M in FEMA funds for NYC migrant stays in hotels probed by House GOP chair
WASHINGTON �nbsp;A powerful Republican House committee chairman fired off a letter Wednesday to New York City Mayor Eric Adams demanding a “full accounting�of the more than $81 million in taxpayer funding doled out last year to shelter city migrants, which may have involved “illegal�stays in “luxury hotels.�/p>
House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Mark Green (R-Tenn.) told Adams his panel “is concerned�that the funding was “approved under the Biden-Harris administration without proper oversight of the recipients and their programs,�according to a copy of the missive obtained exclusively by The Post.
“For four years, the Biden-Harris administration refused to enforce the law and released millions of inadequately vetted and inadmissible aliens into our communities,�Green added in a statement.
“After creating this crisis, the Biden-Harris administration’s only ‘solution�was to funnel millions of taxpayer dollars to nonprofits, with minimal oversight, further incentivizing and facilitating illegal immigration across the country.�/p>
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) funding �both an initial tranche of $59,302,125 and a second tranche of $22,169,838 due from the agency’s Shelter and Services Program (SSP) �was frozen last month, leading to a legal challenge by NYC officials.
In Feb. 11 filings following a complaint against the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) directive pausing the handout, FEMA acting administrator Cameron Hamilton claimed the administration had “significant concerns that the funding is going to entities engaged in or facilitating illegal activities.�/p>
Four FEMA employees �including the agency’s chief financial officer, two program analysts and a grant specialist �were fired the same day “for circumventing leadership to unilaterally make egregious payments for luxury NYC hotels for migrants,�according to DHS officials.
Ten days later, NYC officials also filed a lawsuit against members of the Trump administration, accusing the feds of an “unlawful money grab�without any advance notice.
The plaintiffs disputed that migrants stayed in “luxury�lodgings on the American taxpayers�dime �but acknowledged that $19 million went toward sheltering the new arrivals, with some being put up in the glitzy Row Hotel and Watson Hotel.
“Let’s be clear: New York City only used FEMA funding to help shelter and service thousands of migrants entering our shelter system every week, after being left largely on our own to deal with a national humanitarian crisis,” Liz Garcia, the deputy press secretary for the mayor, told the Post
“The $80 million that FEMA approved, paid, and then rescinded is the bare minimum our taxpayers deserve, and we will continue to work to ensure our city’s residents get every dollar they are owed. We are reviewing the letter.â€?/p>
In total, the Biden administration approved $650 million for the Big Apple’s shelter program in fiscal year 2024.
The migrant crisis has cost the city nearly $7 billion over the last three years, according to Adams administration officials.
Green also sent letters to other sanctuary city leaders this week �including Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass �to request similar documentation about their alleged misuse of $25.7 million and $21.8 million, respectively, from the same FEMA program.
“Sanctuary cities,�the Tennessean said in a statement, “supercharged the chaos by becoming havens for those who chose to break our laws –�all at the expense of the American taxpayer.�/p>
“To conduct proper oversight of this border boondoggle and to root out the previous administration’s waste of taxpayer dollars, Homeland Republicans are demanding a full accounting of the use of SSP funds by these sanctuary cities,�he added.
Green, along with subcommittee chairmen Josh Breechen (R-Okla.) and Dale Strong (R-Ala.), asked for all records related to the FEMA program funding dating between Oct. 1, 2023, and Jan. 19, 2025, to be handed over by April 9.
“The City of Los Angeles has not received this round of FEMA SSP funding,” reps for Bass said in a statement.
Reps for Johnson did not respond to a request for comment.
