Comer, Grothman & LaTurner Open Probe into FEMA Providing Taxpayer Dollars to NGOs That Incentivize Illegal Immigration

WASHINGTON—House Committee on Oversight and Accountability Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.), Subcommittee on National Security, the Border, and Foreign Affairs Chairman Glenn Grothman (R-Wis.), and Rep. Jake LaTurner (R-Kan.) – along with Republican members on the panel – have opened a probe into the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) Emergency Food and Shelter Program (EFSP) after recent reporting alleged taxpayer funds are possibly being used by certain nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) to offset expenses incurred abroad in efforts to facilitate and incentivize illegal immigration to the United States. In the letter to FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell, the Republican lawmakers request documents and communications related to FEMA’s oversight of the EFSP and FEMA’s plan to ensure EFSP only reimburses authorized expenses.

“The Committee on Oversight and Accountability is conducting oversight of the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) administration of the Emergency Food and Shelter Program (EFSP),” wrote the lawmakers. “Based on recent reporting, EFSP funds are possibly being used by certain NGOs to offset expenses incurred abroad in efforts to facilitate and incentivize illegal immigration to the United States. If true, this is a gross misuse of federal taxpayer dollars.”

A recent media report outlines how the American Red Cross is contributing to—not helping to alleviate—illegal immigration. In addition to the American Red Cross working to facilitate migrants’ journeys to the southwest border, a DHS Office of Inspector General (OIG) report questions FEMA’s oversight of EFSP reimbursements in general. The OIG found that EFSP reimbursed NGOs and local recipient organizations for services to migrants without required supporting documentation in nearly 60 percent of sampled funds appropriated under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021.

“President Biden and his Administration have issued a series of executive orders, memoranda, and other policies that eroded deterrence and undermined border security,” continued the lawmakers. “These disastrous policies have led to unprecedented encounters of illegal border crossers at the southwest border and subsequent releases from custody in many cases. Taxpayer funded NGOs then facilitate illegal border crossers’ release and onward travel throughout the country. These releases have overwhelmed American communities from Yuma and El Paso to Martha’s Vineyard and New York City.”

Read the letter to Administrator Criswell here.