Growing support for immigration control initiatives, such as the FEMA shelter service program, indicates a rise in immigration to the nation.
New York Post reported that the city of Atlanta received $4.85 million in funding in 2023, the first year of the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Shelter and Services Program for migrants. In 2024, the city will get $10.89 million in the second year with another round of funding later in the year to be announced.
The funding for the federal program has increased from $363.8 million in fiscal year 2023 to $650 million in fiscal year 2024. Now, city officials and politicians are asking it be funded by as much as $3 billion.
What is FEMA, and how does it Work?
President Jimmy Carter established the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) in 1979 through an executive order. Before then, American disaster management was a patchwork of spontaneous laws, local, state, and federal agencies, and volunteer organizations. While various government agencies provided insurance for disaster damage, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers was in charge of certain aspects of disaster mitigation. In the end, there were over 100 agencies dedicated to disaster relief, and a large number of them redundantly carried out the work of others. Numerous agencies were absorbed by the newly formed agency. In addition to handling natural disasters, FEMA also assumed responsibility for civil defense plans in the event of war. FEMA became a part of the Department of Homeland Security in 2003.
Despite some unfavorable recent coverage, FEMA has played a significant role in assisting Americans in anticipating, responding to, and recovering from some of the worst natural disasters in recorded history. FEMA has been there to support people in uncertain situations for hurricanes, earthquakes, nuclear power plant meltdowns, and toxic contamination.
The agency’s Shelter and Services Program (SSP) “provides financial support t non-federal entities to stipulate humanitarian services to noncitizen migrants.” FEMA administers this program in partnership with U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP). According to FEMA website the purpose is behind the SSP is “to create a human, safe and orderly facilities the migrants who were released Department of Homeland Security.
FEMA is a Bag with Full of Holes
Another sign of the increasing impact of millions of foreign nationals entering the US since President Joe Biden took office is the FEMA Shelter and Services Program.
Communities can receive grants from the program to cover the costs of managing migrants. The first round of funding was distributed to 14 states in fiscal year 2023, including Washington DC.
Earlier this year federal agency eventually released to New York City more then $100 million aid to shelter migrants – was a delayed for months. second shipment of the aid, initially in 2023 the city received $145 million of aid. The FEMA aid is to be used on housing migrants in hotels.
The federal agency also sent a team to the Big Apple to assist the Adams administration with grant paperwork and applications to raise the cap on hotel reimbursements to 15%. The White House’s dispute with New York Mayor Eric Adams over delayed FEMA infamously damaged its relationship with President Biden.
“Adams slammed the notion that City Hall was to blame for the delay, and criticized the Biden administration for only getting $150 million in aid to the city to deal with a crisis that is projected to cost roughly $10 billion through the next fiscal year”, writes New York Post.
The Biden administration has responded by footing a portion of the bill by allowing certain jurisdictions, like Denver, to use FEMA dollars to help pay for the transportation of migrants who request to go to other states. However, he is by no means the only blue state official pushing back. In response to the increasing number of immigrants straining communities along the Southwest border, Congress for the first time appropriated funds specifically for migrant services in 2019.
Governments and nonprofit organizations that offer services to migrants are eligible to receive allocations for SSP, which may be given either in advance or through reimbursement. SSP funds can be used for infrastructure needs, administrative expenses, translation fees, and other specific categories such as transportation, medical services, shelter, and hygiene. There are caps on each category. For example, administrative costs cannot exceed five percent and transportation and houisng costs can only receive ten percent of the total financial award.
The entire amount of federal funding available to pay for migrant services in the fiscal year 2023 was roughly $800 million, of which roughly 55% was distributed through Emergency Food and Shelter Program-Humanitarian (EFSP-H) and the remaining portion through SSP. The majority of the funding went to recipients in Texas and New York. Even with this enormous sum of money, it was still insufficient.
Homelessness vs Migration Influx
Mayor Adams has been most vocal about his frustration with the federal government, sparking tensions with the White House with recent remarks that a migrant influx he estimates will cost New Yorkers $12 billion by mid-2025 “will destroy” the city.
Actually, New York City faces the greatest difficulties because of its special legal duty to house anyone in need. In order to address the ongoing issues of homeless New Yorkers and the difficulty of housing migrants, the city has looked to hotels, a cruise ship terminal, a former police academy building, and other places. The cost of providing food, shelter, healthcare, education, and other services falls on New York and other cities as well.
According to a MPI report, New York City spent an estimated $1.7 billion on shelter, food, and other services for migrants through the end of July 2023 which means
the $145 million allocated to the New York City government under SSP is less than one-tenth of what the city has spent on migrants.
Homeless shelters and hotels have been common solutions to accommodate migrants, now the cities even used school gyms, other shared housing arrangements, or police stations to this end.
New York City has absorbed the largest number of migrants last year, and close to 60,000 were living in its shelter system in September 2023. NYC is obligated to provide shelter to anyone who seeks it. With traditional shelters filling up, New York has established 200 other locations to place migrants, including more than 140 hotels, school gyms, churches and other religious institutions, previously vacant buildings, and large tents.
Due to a lack of federal funding and the restricted access public benefits for newcomers, city services are now peoples’ last choice for obtaining basic necessities. Local authorities have addressed the situation in a variety of ways and with haphazard methods, mainly depending on neighborhood nonprofits for support.
Nationwide, housing developed to be a serious issue. The housing crisis that was already present in many cities has been made worse by the effort to house migrants. People started to lose their extra income, and some cities stopped funding their rent and mortgage assistance programs. The fact that migrant shelters in many cities are distinct from those serving the local homeless population not only enables officials to address the unique needs of migrants, but also prevents competition between the two groups. A recent local law in Washington that established the Office of Migrant Affairs specifically barred immigrants from accessing the regular services provided by the city to homeless citizens.
Denver, which has seen high arrivals on and off since the end of 2022 was sheltering about 1,000 migrants in early September 2023. During past periods of sizeable arrivals, the city opened emergency overnight shelters in recreation centers and other locations. The city has also requested that faith-based organizations provide overnight shelter for migrants leaving town the next day.
National Division of New Arrivals
In late 2022 the federal government has permitted hundreds of thousands of individuals to enter the country while their removal or asylum claim is being reviewed by immigration court officials. This is due to the overwhelming volume of people crossing the border into the United States from Mexico and the increasing number of migrants seeking humanitarian protection.
Whereas in previous years asylum seekers and other migrants would have found their own way to interior cities where they have family or other social connections, many recent arrivals have headed to some targeted cities.
Meanwhile free buses offered by Texas Florida and Arizona (as well as local jurisdictions and nongovernmental organizations) to cities such as Chicago, Denver, Los Angeles, New York, Philadelphia, and Washington. Just a few months in 2022 more than 13,000 migrants had been bused to blue cities from red states, exacerbating state-on-state divide over immigration.
Given the housing challenges, many cities are left with little ability to offer migrants longer-term integration assistance, including employment services, legal aid, and mental health and health care. Cities do not yet seem to have strategies for helping migrants exit shelters and become self-supporting. New York and other cities currently has no way to force migrants to find other housing. NYC giving their single adult migrants 60 days’ notice to find their own housing. Migrants unable to find other housing can re-enroll in shelters but will be granted just 30 additional days
For example, State of Illinois is funding up to six months of rental assistance for migrants who have passed through publicly funded shelters or hotel stays in the state; as of July, more than 1,000 migrants had been approved for the program. But the expensive rental market in major U.S. cities can be a strong barrier to exiting government-run shelters.
