The Trump administration transferred nearly $10 million from the Federal Emergency Management Agency earlier this year to fund immigrant detention and deportation efforts, according to a document released Tuesday by Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore). The controversial crackdown resulted in the separation of thousands of migrant children from their parents, hundreds of whom have yet to be reunited. At the start of hurricane season — when American citizens in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands are still suffering from FEMA’s inadequate recovery efforts — the administration transferred millions of dollars away from FEMA,” Merkley said in a statement to HuffPost. “$10 million comes out of FEMA when we’re facing a hurricane season knowing what’s happened last year,” Merkley told Maddow on Tuesday. “DHS/FEMA stand fiscally and operationally ready to support current and future response and recovery needs.”Under no circumstances was any disaster relief funding transferred from @fema to immigration enforcement efforts.

Source: Huffington Post September 12, 2018 04:30 UTC