The Trump administration is diverting millions of dollars from federal disaster relief funds and using it instead to detain migrants and create temporary locations for their court hearings, multiple news outlets reported Tuesday.

In total, $271 million is being reallocated from various parts of the agency, according to the Department of Homeland Security. But the largest chunk of the money — $155 million — will come from the Federal Emergency Management Agency's disaster relief fund, NBC News and CNN reported.

The news comes as Tropical Storm Dorian, expected to soon become a hurricane, bears down on the US territory of Puerto Rico.

"This realignment of resources allows DHS to address ongoing border emergency crisis by alleviating the surge along the Nation's Southwest Border while minimizing the risk to overall DHS mission performance," DHS said in a statement.

The agency said in a press release the 2019 DHS Appropriations Act gave the authority to move the funds.

Tropical Storm Dorian is pictured off the coast of Venezuela. NASA / Handout / Reuters

Read more: Immigration officers refused to let a Harvard student into the US after reportedly questioning him about his religion and his friends' anti-American social media posts

The remaining $116 million DHS funds being reallocated comes mostly from Coast Guard operations and aviation security, DHS officials told NBC News.

One official told the network that the money was being transferred immediately, and it would fund the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency through September 30.

"We would not say this is with no risk, but we would say that we worked it in a way to … minimize the risk," the official said. "This was a must-pay bill that needed to be addressed."

The money is being used to support a controversial Trump administration program that forces some asylum-seekers to wait in Mexico while their immigration cases are resolved in the US court system.

Democrats immediately criticized the move, arguing that the agency had not demonstrated that the reallocation was necessary and that Congress had not approved it.

"I have grave concerns about DHS's proposed end-run around laws passed by Congress that would drain millions from agencies tasked with protecting the homeland from security threats and natural disasters like hurricanes and wildfires — including CBP, TSA, FEMA and the Coast Guard," Sen. John Tester of Montana told NBC News in a statement.
• Tropical Storm Dorian is pelting the Caribbean with heavy rain and wind. Here's where the storm is heading next.
• 11 photos show people in Puerto Rico and Barbados preparing for Dorian as the tropical storm batters the Caribbean
• Trump reportedly suggested using nuclear bombs to stop hurricanes from striking the US </s> • The Trump administration is diverting millions of dollars from federal disaster relief funds so it can be used for immigration enforcement, NBC News and CNN reported Tuesday.
• The news comes as Tropical Storm Dorian, expected to soon become a hurricane, bears down on the US territory of Puerto Rico.
• In total, $271 million is being reallocated from various parts of the Department of Homeland Security, but the largest chunk of the money – $155 million – will come from the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s disaster relief fund.

The Trump administration is diverting millions of dollars from federal disaster relief funds and using it instead to detain migrants and create temporary locations for their court hearings, multiple news outlets reported Tuesday.

In total, $271 million is being reallocated from various parts of the agency, according to the Department of Homeland Security. But the largest chunk of the money – $155 million – will come from the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s disaster relief fund, NBC News and CNN reported.

The news comes as Tropical Storm Dorian, expected to soon become a hurricane, bears down on the US territory of Puerto Rico.

“This realignment of resources allows DHS to address ongoing border emergency crisis by alleviating the surge along the Nation’s Southwest Border while minimizing the risk to overall DHS mission performance,” DHS said in a statement.

The agency said in a press release the 2019 DHS Appropriations Act gave the authority to move the funds.

Read more: Immigration officers refused to let a Harvard student into the US after reportedly questioning him about his religion and his friends’ anti-American social media posts

The remaining $116 million DHS funds being reallocated comes mostly from Coast Guard operations and aviation security, DHS officials told NBC News.

One official told the network that the money was being transferred immediately, and it would fund the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency through September 30.

“We would not say this is with no risk, but we would say that we worked it in a way to … minimize the risk,” the official said. “This was a must-pay bill that needed to be addressed.”

The money is being used to support a controversial Trump administration program that forces some asylum-seekers to wait in Mexico while their immigration cases are resolved in the US court system.

Democrats immediately criticized the move, arguing that the agency had not demonstrated that the reallocation was necessary and that Congress had not approved it.

“I have grave concerns about DHS’s proposed end-run around laws passed by Congress that would drain millions from agencies tasked with protecting the homeland from security threats and natural disasters like hurricanes and wildfires – including CBP, TSA, FEMA and the Coast Guard,” Sen. John Tester of Montana told NBC News in a statement.
• Tropical Storm Dorian is pelting the Caribbean with heavy rain and wind. Here’s where the storm is heading next.
• 11 photos show people in Puerto Rico and Barbados preparing for Dorian as the tropical storm batters the Caribbean
• Trump reportedly suggested using nuclear bombs to stop hurricanes from striking the US </s> Washington (CNN) The Trump administration plans to shift at least $155 million from the Federal Emergency Management Agency disaster relief fund to support its policy of returning some migrants to Mexico.

The Department of Homeland Security has informed Congress it will reprogram and transfer $271 million in total to its immigration enforcement agency from elsewhere in the department, including the FEMA money, according to documents obtained by CNN.

The moves comes as Tropical Storm Dorian nears hurricane strength as it approaches Puerto Rico.

Last week, the administration announced its intention to hold migrant families indefinitely, aimed at scrapping a settlement that put a 20-day limit on family detention.

DHS notified Congress of its plan to reprogram and transfer funds from agencies over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, DHS' enforcement arm, on July 26, according to a DHS official. The department plans to transfer around $116 million for ICE detention beds, as well as transportation and deportation, the official said.

The department will not pull funds for detention beds from the US Secret Service, the Office of the Inspector General, and the Office of Intelligence and Analysis.

"In this case, this is a must-pay bill that needed to be addressed," said the official.

"We would not say that this is with no risk," said the official, who added that it was done in ways to "minimize the risk" to agencies that are losing funding.

FEMA said in a statement to CNN, "This transfer of funds to support the border emergency will leave a remaining balance of $447 million in the DRF (Disaster Relief Fund) Base account. Based on DHS and FEMA's review of historical emergency spending from the DRF Base account, this amount will be sufficient to support operational needs and will not impact ongoing long-term recovery efforts across the country. The DRF Majors account, which provides funding for ongoing recovery efforts, including those supporting communities impacted by the 2017 disasters, has a current balance of approximately $27 billion and is not impacted by the reprogramming."

It's not uncommon for departments, including DHS, to reprogram funds. DHS, in particular, has previously reprogrammed funds for detention beds, for example.

The reprogramming of money to Immigration and Customs Enforcement is sure to receive pushback from Democratic lawmakers who've criticized the agency.

In a letter to acting Homeland Security Secretary Kevin McAleenan, Democratic Rep. Lucille Roybal-Allard of California, chair of the House Homeland Security Appropriations Subcommittee, opposed the reprogramming of funds, saying she had "significant concerns about the intended use of funds" and the shifting of funds from other components.

House Homeland Security Chairman Bennie Thompson said in a statement that the administration is "flouting the law and Congressional intent to fund its extremist indefinite detention immigration policies."

"Taking money away from TSA and from FEMA in the middle of hurricane season could have deadly consequences. Congress should work to undo the damage this Administration is continually doing to our homeland security infrastructure," the Mississippi Democrat added.

DHS plans to transfer $23.8 million from the Transportation Security Administration for immigration enforcement, according to a document obtained by CNN.

Earlier this year, funds for additional detention beds -- as the administration has repeatedly pushed for -- became a sticking point in appropriations negotiations.

Democrats argued that by allowing ICE to up the number of detention beds, the agency would have the capacity to pursue a broader population of undocumented immigrants, including those without criminal records. But Republicans view the number of detention beds as central to limiting the release of detained undocumented immigrants into the US as they await hearings.

In the end, the spending bill included funding for an average 45,274 detention beds per day, with the intent to return to 40,520 by the end of the fiscal year, which is the level funded in the last fiscal year, but short of the administration's request of 52,000 detention beds. The reprogramming of funds will up ICE's bed count to roughly 50,000.

In recent months, however, the agency has been consistently holding more people in detention: As of August 10, 55,530 people were in immigration detention, according to the agency.

The latest shift in funds will also pull more money from FEMA -- $3.4 million for detention efforts.

Additionally, $4.3 million will be transferred from DHS' cyber agency.

DHS resources have been stretched thin amid an influx of migrants at the southern border. So far this fiscal year, more than 760,000 migrants have been arrested for crossing the border illegally. Many of them turn themselves in to agents.

In May, the Trump administration asked Congress for $4.5 billion in emergency funding. The request included additional detention beds. That part of the request was not fulfilled. </s> San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulín Cruz lambasted President Donald Trump’s tepid response to a likely hurricane bearing down on Puerto Rico in the coming hours, telling him to “get out to the way” as emergency officials prepare for a storm that could threaten recovery efforts still underway more than a year after Hurricane Maria.

“It seems like some people have learned the lessons of the past or are willing to say that they didn’t do right by us the first time and they’re trying to do their best,” Cruz, a vocal critic of Trump, said Tuesday night on CNN. “That is not the case with the president of the United States. We are not going to be concerned by, frankly, his behavior, his lack of understanding, and it is ludicrous. So get out of the way, President Trump, and let people who can do the job get the job done.”

Cruz’s comments come as Puerto Rico is preparing for the arrival of Tropical Storm Dorian. While the storm has sustained winds of about 50 miles an hour now, the National Hurricane Center expected it to strengthen into near-hurricane strength as it approached the island Wednesday.

“Some weakening is expected after Dorian moves across the higher terrain of Puerto Rico,” the NHC said in its 11 p.m. news advisory Tuesday. “Dorian is expected to gradually re-strengthen on Thursday and Friday while passing near or to the east of the Turks and Caicos and southeastern and central Bahamas.”

The island is still recovering from the devastation left by 2017’s Hurricane Maria, which left an estimated 3,000 people dead and caused billions of dollars in damage. Congress has appropriated more than $42.6 billion in disaster relief aid, but only a portion of that has been sent to the island, about $13.9 billion, according to statistics from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

It is reprehensible that yet again @realDonaldTrump chooses to lie. Will it ever end.? Congress has approved $40 b and $14b have been disbursed. Would it be too much to ask for you to act Presidenatial and do your job without a lie or an insult? https://t.co/hexoYy71lA — Carmen Yulín Cruz (@CarmenYulinCruz) August 27, 2019

Trump has repeatedly trotted out a $91 billion or $92 billion figure, which is false, in order to attack the level of aid sent to Puerto Rico, a U.S. territory. He has repeatedly criticized the local government, saying it mismanaged federal resources, and opposed sending any more money to the island as it struggled to recover from Maria.

At the same time, he’s dubbed himself “the best thing that ever happened to Puerto Rico,” saying in July that he did a “great job” there. He has also accused Cruz of being a “poor leader.”

On Tuesday, the Department of Homeland Security announced that it intended to divert millions of dollars from FEMA’s Disaster Relief Fund to help pay for the administration’s immigration control efforts along the U.S.-Mexico border.

The move was fiercely criticized by some lawmakers, including Cruz and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), who called it a “brazen theft” on the eve of hurricane season. </s> As Tropical Storm Dorian barrels toward Puerto Rico, President Trump has again cited misleading aid numbers in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria.

He touted $91 billion in aid for Puerto Rico in May — more than half of that $91/92 billion is based on the White House's estimates for costs FEMA could incur in years to come.

$42.2 billion of relief has been appropriated by congress, $20.3 billion obligated to be spent by federal agencies (meaning they have actually committed to spending this money), and $12.6 billion has been spent, according to the federal government’s disaster relief website. </s> Puerto Rico was bracing on Wednesday for the arrival of Tropical Storm Dorian, closing schools and diverting cruise liners, as it threatened to reach hurricane strength on its approach to the US territory.

US President Donald Trump on Tuesday night declared a state of emergency for the island, which is still struggling to recover from devastating back-to-back hurricanes Irma and Maria in 2017.

Those hurricanes killed about 3,000 people just months after the territory filed for bankruptcy to restructure $120 billion of debt and pension obligations.

Having been criticised over the response to the 2017 storms, the White House said in a statement that Mr Trump had approved the emergency declaration, allowing for the Federal Emergency Management Agency to provide assistance in coordination with ongoing disaster preparedness efforts.

"We are better prepared than when Hurricane Maria attacked our island," Puerto Rico Governor Wanda Vazquez said during a televised news conference.

Ms Vazquez, who took office this month after political turmoil led to the resignation of his predecessor, said preparations for the storm were more than 90% complete, culminating with the opening of emergency shelters.

Infrastructure ranging from electric power lines to telecommunications and banking networks were in better shape than they had been in 2017, she added. </s> US President Donald Trump is edging closer to declaring a national emergency to fund his long-promised border wall, as pressure mounts to find an escape hatch from the three-week impasse that has closed parts of the government, leaving hundreds of thousands of workers without pay.

Some 800,000 workers, more than half of them still on the job, were to miss their first paycheck on Friday under the stoppage, and Washington was close to setting a dubious record for the longest government shutdown in the nation’s history.

Those markers — along with growing effects to national parks, food inspections and the economy overall — left some Republicans on Capitol Hill increasingly uncomfortable with Mr Trump’s demands.

Asked about the plight of those going without pay, the president shifted the focus, saying he felt badly “for people that have family members that have been killed” by criminals who came over the border.

Mr Trump visited McAllen, Texas, and the Rio Grande on Thursday to highlight what he calls a crisis of drugs and crime. He said that “if for any reason we don’t get this going” — an agreement with House Democrats who have refused to approve the $5.7 billion ($A7.8bn) he demands for the wall — “I will declare a national emergency.”

Mr Trump was consulting with White House attorneys and allies about using presidential emergency powers to take unilateral action to construct the wall over the objections of Congress. He claimed his lawyers told him the action would withstand legal scrutiny “100 per cent.”

Such a move to bypass Congress’ constitutional control of the nation’s purse strings would spark certain legal challenges and bipartisan cries of executive overreach.

A congressional official said the Trump administration is eyeing billions of dollars of relief funds earmarked for hurricane-pounded Puerto Rico, Texas, California, Florida and other states to be diverted to a border wall as part of the emergency declaration.

The White House has directed the Army Corps of Engineers to comb through its budget, including $13.9 billion ($A19bn) in emergency funds that Congress set aside last year for disaster relief.

The money also funds a variety of projects, mostly flood control to prevent future disasters.

Regardless of where the money is found, an emergency declaration would draw immediate legal challenge from Democrats, who have accused Mr Trump of trying to manufacture a crisis at the southern border to justify his wall. Critics have said the move would be an unconstitutional abuse of emergency powers.

After being criticised for denying he ever said Mexico would directly pay for the wall, Mr Trump tweeted on Friday morning:

I often said during rallies, with little variation, that “Mexico will pay for the Wall.” We have just signed a great new Trade Deal with Mexico. It is Billions of Dollars a year better than the very bad NAFTA deal which it replaces. The difference pays for Wall many times over! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 11, 2019

WHO IS AFFECTED BY THE SHUTDOWN?

Some 800,000 federal workers did not receive paychecks they were due on Friday.

Cities with economies tied to federal spending are showing signs of strain. One is Huntsville, Alabama, where about 70 federal agencies are located at the Army’s Redstone Arsenal: Hotel rooms are vacant because out-of-town government workers and contractors aren’t coming, restaurants frequented by federal workers are struggling, parking lots are empty and offices at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center are dark.

Federal clean-ups at Superfund sites around the nation have been suspended. Nine of the 15 Cabinet-level departments have not been funded, including Agriculture, Homeland Security, State, Transportation, Interior and Justice. Some iconic National Park facilities are shuttered as are the Smithsonian museums and the National Zoo in Washington. Nearly everyone at NASA is being told to stay home, as are most at the Internal Revenue Service, which processes tax returns and issues refunds, though the administration says tax refunds will be issued during the shutdown.

Some 420,000 federal employees whose work is declared essential are working without pay, including the FBI, TSA and other federal law enforcement officers. Some staff at the State and Homeland Security departments are also working without compensation. The Senate approved a bill to provide back pay to federal workers and the House has voted to ensure that all federal employees will be paid retroactively after the partial government shutdown ends. The bill now heads to Mr Trump, who is expected to sign it. Mr Trump said this week that federal workers will “get their money.”

The shutdown has begun to make it harder to assess the health of the economy by delaying or distorting key reports on growth, spending and hiring.

Government data on home construction and retail sales, for example, won’t be released next week because staffers who compile those reports have been furloughed.

The retail sales report provides a snapshot of consumer spending, which fuels more than two-thirds of the economy. With department stores Macy’s and Kohl’s having said that their Christmas sales were weaker than expected, a broader gauge of retail spending would have provided important clarity.

In addition, the next report on the economy’s overall growth, set for Jan. 30, won’t be released if the shutdown remains in effect. Even if the government has fully reopened by then, federal workers won’t likely have had enough time to produce the scheduled report on the nation’s GDP. </s> WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 28th August, 2019) The US Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) on Tuesday said in a statement that nearly 3,000 federal employee are stationed in to Puerto Rico in response to Hurricane Dorian.

"Currently, nearly 3,000 federal employees in Puerto Rico are ready to respond," FEMA said in Twitter post. "Emergency communications, logistics & transportation teams are also positioned on the island.

FEMA said that hurricane conditions are possible in the US territory of Puerto Rico on Wednesday.

On Monday, US President Donald Trump denied media reports that claimed he had proposed using nuclear bombs on hurricanes to stop them from reaching the US east coast.

According to the Axios portal, Trump had argued at several briefings with homeland and national security officials that bombs should be dropped into the eye of hurricanes forming off the African coast to disrupt them. </s> On the defensive over the pace of federal help for Puerto Rico, President Donald Trump and congressional Republicans cleared the way Thursday for more supplies and government cash for the hurricane-ravaged U.S. island.

Trump waived federal restrictions on foreign ships delivering cargo. And House Speaker Paul Ryan said the Federal Emergency Management Agency's disaster relief account will get a $6.7 billion boost by the end of the week. Trump and his advisers, meanwhile, defended the administration's response to the devastation on the island, which was hit by Hurricane Maria Sept. 20 with many people left desperate for power, food and other supplies.

"The electric power grid in Puerto Rico is totally shot. Large numbers of generators are now on Island. Food and water on site," Trump tweeted early in the day.

The developments Thursday came after Trump came under sharp criticism for what critics said was a too-slow response to a humanitarian crisis among Puerto Rico's 3.4 million residents.

From the White House driveway to cable television, a squad of advisers defended the president's response and described the relief efforts as well underway, with most hospitals "operational."

Acting Homeland Security Secretary Elaine Duke said she signed the waiver of a federal law called the Jones Act to clear the way for foreign-flagged ships to deliver supplies between U.S. ports.

"You are seeing devastation in Puerto Rico. That is the fault of the hurricane," Duke told reporters in the White House driveway. "The relief effort is under control."

Tom Bossert, Trump's homeland security adviser, said the impression of a slow response isn't so much wrong as it is outdated. He said more than 40 of the island's 69 hospitals are accepting patients.

And FEMA Administrator Brock Long said the efforts have been hampered by damaged airports and ports on the island.

"The question is that last mile," Long told CNN, speaking of the difficulty of getting aid all the way to those in need.

Ryan, meanwhile, said a "huge capital injection will occur in two days" to help Puerto Rico recover. He noted Trump had waived a matching funds requirement, which means the cash-strapped island won't have to contribute to the initial costs of the federal assistance. The Wisconsin Republican said he expects the Trump administration to send Congress a request for a long-term recovery package once damage assessments are conducted.

"We will quickly act on that request," Ryan said.

Duke said the shipping waiver came in response to a request from Puerto Rico Gov. Ricardo Rossello. The waiver, the White House said, would go into effect immediately.

Rossello responded on Twitter to Trump's action: "Thank you @POTUS."

Duke had waived the law earlier this month to help ease fuel shortages in the Southeast following hurricanes Harvey and Irma. That order included Puerto Rico but expired last week, shortly after Maria struck.

The Trump administration initially said a waiver was not needed for Puerto Rico because there were enough U.S.-flagged ships available to ferry goods to the island.
The Donald Trump administration is in the process of shifting at least $155 million from the Federal Emergency Management Agency to the Department of Homeland Security, in order to fund the return of some migrants to Mexico. The move comes as Tropical Storm Dorian nears hurricane status as it approaches Puerto Rico.