The Federal Emergency Management Association (FEMA) is reimbursing non-profit groups that assisted migrants who were released by immigration authorities. The funds are part of an emergency aid package that was passed by Congress in June.
The Associated Press is reporting that “Members of the U.S. House on Friday announced the start of reimbursements to municipal governments, religious charities and other social service organizations that helped tens of thousands of migrants who crossed the U.S.-Mexico border, applied for asylum, and were released by immigration authorities.”
"These funds are for local social service organizations providing assistance on or after Jan. 1, 2019 to migrants from the southern border released from DHS custody,” a FEMA spokesperson told the AP.
“In El Paso, a social services organization focused on counseling and transportation started running extra busses to ferry migrants from migrant shelters to Greyhound bus station and the airport as the number of migrants released into the city by Border Patrol and Immigration and Customs Enforcement reached as much as 1,000 per day,” according to the AP.
“Some $25 million is reserved for organizations in states that share a border with Mexico — California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas. But a FEMA document obtained by The Associated Press said some organizations as far away as New Jersey and Maine were awarded a part of the $5 million available to states far from the Southwest.”
Thanks to President Trump’s policies, and no thanks to Congress, illegal border crossings have been down in recent months. The administration’s efforts to stop the flow of migrants continue to face massive resistance from the courts.