Rep. Garret Graves, R-La., on Friday blasted the Federal Emergency Management Agency for prioritizing illegal immigrants over disaster victims.
“What I’m really struggling with is, as I understand it, in North Carolina, for example, where I visited, you could have a flood or disaster victim that can get a check for $750," Graves said during a hearing on FEMA’s responses, "yet when I go through and I look at the programs and resources that are available to a citizen of a different country that came illegally into the United States under the FEMA administrative program, using nonprofits, you could be eligible for housing, for food, for transportation, for healthcare costs, and others.”
The hearing was before a House subcommittee investigating the federal government’s response to Hurricanes Helene and Milton.
“I was able to get to a figure in excess of $10,000 for an individual. Let me make note again, that is a citizen of a foreign country. How would I explain to a taxpayer, that a taxpayer, a citizen of the United States, is eligible for $750, yet a citizen of a foreign country under your agency is still eligible for assistance of $10,000?” he asked.
FEMA officials have been criticized for the agency’s response to Hurricanes Helene and Milton.