Elon Musk said the government’s efficiency team, President Donald Trump’s cost-cutting agency, has discovered illegal activities from the federal emergency management agency.
“The @Doge team discovered that FEMA will send $59 million to luxury hotels in New York City last week to house illegal immigrants. Sending this money violates the law and is a terrible mistake to the president’s executive order. I’m in submission,” Musk said on the X-Post on February 10th. “That money is intended for American disaster relief and instead is spent on high-end hotels for illegals! Today’s demand for clawback is being made to get back these funds.”
During the 2024 presidential election, Trump made similar claims after Hurricane Helen struck the southeastern United States in late September.
“One billion dollars were stolen from FEMA and used for illegal immigrants,” Trump said at the time. We rated that complaint pants burned!
Like Trump, Musk’s claims are inaccurate. FEMA did not directly give money to hotels in New York. It gave New York City money. The move was neither illegal nor secret. This was part of a program that Congress created and funded using funds from US Customs and Border Protection, rather than FEMA disaster relief funds, which are primarily used after natural disasters. Money did not fund luxury hotel rooms for immigrants.
This is the truth.
Since Trump’s first administration, FEMA has given money to support state and local governments and nonprofits that provide basic services to immigrants.
In 2019, when illegal immigration increased, Congress provided FEMA funding to expand its emergency food and shelter programs to include immigration support services for immigrants awaiting court cases. The program was previously only used for people facing homelessness and hunger.
In 2023, Congress directed the US Customs and Border Protection Agency and FEMA to create shelter and service programs for immigration, and removed immigration grants from the Emergency Food and Shelter Program. The Shelter and Services Program uses money that Congress gives customs and border security and is governed by FEMA.
In fiscal year 2024, which began in October 2023 and ended in September 2024, Congress directed the US Customs and Border Patrol to grant $650 million to FEMA to the Shelter and Services program.
Neither programme was funded with the money promised for FEMA disaster relief efforts.
“The Disaster Relief Fund has nothing to do with immigration assistance accounts, as all expenses are from separate funds,” said Joshua Sewell, a federal budget expert for nonpartisan taxpayers, in 2024. He spoke to political measures in October 2019.
During Trump’s first administration, he shifted $271 million in FEMA funds, including about $155 million from the Disaster Relief Fund to deal with immigration.
Musk did not respond to Politifact’s request for evidence that FEMA sent $59 million to New York City “last week.”
FEMA’s Shelter and Services Program website receives how much money state and local governments and nonprofits receive from this program. However, the data will only be updated by fiscal year 2024. In 2024, the New York City Office of Business and Budget received $59 million.
The New York City mayor’s office said it received $81 million from the federal government on Feb. 10, and it received $81 million in two payments. The mayor’s office did not respond to our request for comment.
“This morning, my financial team illegally executed a $80 million cancellation of Congress-friendly FEMA funding from a New York City bank account late yesterday afternoon. It was a shocking discovery,” said Brad Lander of New York City. A statement posted on the agency’s website. “This is money the federal government has previously paid for shelters and services and is now missing. This highway robbery of our funds directly from our bank account is a New York It’s the betrayal of everyone who calls the city home.”
New York City law requires the government to provide shelter to those in need. According to a July 2024 Director’s report, the city spent an average of $156 per night per hotel room.
According to the list of allowable costs for FEMA shelter programs, hotel rooms costs must be “reasonable based on rates set by the U.S. Department of General Services.”
The US General Services Agency sets the daily rate for hotel rooms in New York City from $179 to $342 per night. A luxury 5-star hotel in New York City costs around $400-$1,000 per night, according to a search on travel booking site Expedia.
“The @Doge team just discovered that FEMA sent $59 million last week to house illegal immigrants at a luxury hotel in New York City, with the money aimed at disaster relief in the US,” Musk said. Masu.”
FEMA awarded New York City $59 million in 2024. The funding is part of a program that has approved legislature to reimburse local governments and nonprofits that provide basic services to immigrants. The US Customs and Border Patrol fund the program, and FEMA manages it. None of them come from FEMA Disaster Relief Funds, which are primarily used after natural disasters.
New York City does not house immigrants in its luxurious hotel rooms. In 2024, it spent an average of $156 per night per hotel room, below the General Services Bureau’s DIEM rate. The city spent $19 million on hotel rooms.
A false evaluation of a claim.
This fact check was originally published by Politifact, a part of the Poynter Institute. See the source of this fact.
