To: The United States House of Representatives, The United States Senate, and President Donald Trump
Emergency Response and Preparedness Money Should Not Be Used to Detain Families
The Trump Administration has taken $169 million dollars from agencies including FEMA, TSA, the U.S. Coast Guard to detain and deport immigrants. Tell them to give the money to agencies that need it for hurricane response and recovery efforts.
Why is this important?
Documents recently obtained by Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR) revealed that the Trump Administration moved $10 million from FEMA, the agency tasked with protecting us from and preparing us for disasters like hurricanes, to Trump and Jeff Sessions’ detention and deportation efforts.
The purpose of FEMA is to reduce the loss of life and property in emergency situation. How FEMA spends its money is often a matter of life and death. This is especially true during hurricane season — and especially true right now, as Hurricane Florence bears down on the East Coast.
Overall, $169 million has been taken from the Domestic Nuclear Detection Office, the U.S. Coast Guard, the TSA, and others so that ICE has millions of dollars more to carry out an extremist agenda of tearing apart families, detaining children, and instilling fear and trauma on those who seek the American Dream.
Using funds from FEMA and other agencies for cruel political pet projects like family detention and deportation is not only inhumane, it’s dangerous. Tell the Trump Administration to stop separating families and give this money back!