Shocked, Shocked!! Reassigning FEMA Staffers To Work On Immigration Crackdown Hurt Disaster Response

[hatrack]

The Department of Homeland Security misused Federal Emergency Management Agency resources when it diverted dozens of staff to help with immigration enforcement, says a new report by a group of House Democrats shared first with The Washington Post. The lawmakers describe the deployments as an example of how the Trump administration has hindered FEMA’s ability to properly prepare for and respond to disasters.

Beginning last summer, the Trump administration reassigned FEMA personnel to immigration enforcement roles that were largely outside the scope of emergency and disaster work for long stretches of time when the agency was grappling with extensive cuts and leadership changes, according to the report from Democrats on the House Transportation subcommittee on economic development, public buildings and emergency management. The probe was based on interviews with 15 current and former FEMA employees and disaster and immigration policy experts.

“Overall, the Administration’s sweeping immigration agenda has used FEMA resources and personnel to aid in carrying out large-scale immigration enforcement operations, distracting the agency from its statutorily required responsibilities, jeopardizing its workforce levels and expertise, and reducing its ability to respond to disasters and aid survivors,” the report said.

To assess the probe’s findings, The Post separately reviewed previously unreported documents from the Government Accountability Office related to the report, and spoke with two current FEMA employees with direct knowledge of the agency’s immigration deployments, as well as four former senior FEMA officials and two federal officials who specialize in homeland security. Two current and former FEMA officials interviewed said some of the lawmakers’ findings were mischaracterized, because DHS has called on FEMA personnel and specialized teams to support immigration work in the past. They did, however, agree with the report’s conclusion that FEMA’s primary mission “has been measurably undermined by DHS’ policy goals surrounding border security.”

EDIT

https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2026/07/10/assigning-fema-staff-immigration-enforcement-hurt-disaster-work-house-report-says/

https://wapo.st/4ygrAxl

[brer cat]

1. No one could have seen that coming!

[OKIsItJustMe]

2. So, here's the thing...

Thanks to “Climate Change” disasters which used to be rare are now becoming commonplace. For FEMA to handle them as they once did would require a much larger budget.

https://www.climate.us/news-features/blogs/beyond-data/2024-active-year-us-billion-dollar-weather-and-climate-disasters


So, the administration prefers to kill off FEMA, without admitting they’re doing it.