FEMA Reimburses Cities for Migrant Influxes
The mayor of El Paso, Texas recently said the Federal Emergency Management Agency will reimburse the city for all costs related to migrant influxes
In a recent interview with KFOX in El Paso, Mayor Oscar Leeser declared that the city has been working with the federal government to pay for the current migrant influx. The comment was made in response to a push by several city council members to declare a state of emergency opening access to state funds. The mayor argues that the city can not receive funding from the state and the federal government for the same thing at the same time.
"Right now we’re working through FEMA, and you’re not going to get money from FEMA and the state for the same resources," Leeser told KFOX.
His comments highlight a source of funding Republicans don’t want you to know about. While questions about the bureaucracy and length of time it takes for reimbursement from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) - which is notoriously slow - it’s worth noting that many cities and states, including Florida and Texas, benefit from those reimbursements.
Even when paying to transport migrants across the country - something the city of El Paso recently authorized and Governors Ron DeSantis of Florida, Greg Abbott of Texas, and Doug Ducey from Arizona have been doing - charter buses are inevitably paid for by FEMA. As the midterm election nears and the races heat up, is this not something that should be mentioned every time Republicans scream about the cost of migrant influxes?
Of course, it is.
It’s also worth noting the anti-Latino rhetoric being implemented by right-wing politicians and pundits alike. Either via memes or social media posts, xenophobia employed by Republicans revolves around what Jean Guerrero of the LA Times recently referred to as Latinophobia. She couldn’t be more right. Everywhere you look, from a small group of conservative Latinos to ultra-conservatives in the Black community, anti-Latino xenophobia is growing.
The reasons for that are many. The biggest, however, is due to not challenging it when it’s spoken in various circles. Recently, many so-called “liberal” media outlets allowed pundits to promote the notion of supporting “legal” immigration and not “illegal” immigration - bolstering the racist idea that humans from certain countries are “illegal”.
The focus on Latinos - Haitians were not mentioned, nor were immigrants from Africa, Europe, or anywhere else in the world - is very telling. Because despite not being as blatantly anti-Latino as Republicans, the softer more covert language resonates with liberals who are incrementally being pushed to the right by conservative organizations like the Lincoln Project.
Republicans have made it abundantly clear that they despise immigrants overall. None more so than Latinos. My guess is if they come out targeting other migrants such as Africans, Ukrainians, and Russians (yes, Russians) it would cost them the few Black votes they have and a ton of white votes. So they instead focus on a more acceptable group to target: Latinos.
Is anyone surprised by this? You shouldn’t be.
Keep an eye on the various Latino voting blocs in the U.S. In South Texas, they’re witnessing what voting for a xenophobic governor has brought them. In various areas across the country, such as Idaho where a State Senate Candidate shared a xenophobic meme on Facebook, they’re taking notice as well. Despite what Republicans and various media outlets will tell you, the majority of Latinos still support Democrats precisely because of the hate from Republicans.
But Democrats can’t take that for granted. There are many Latinos who have expressed their anger with Democrats and have declared they intend to vote Republican. While most of those are religious conservatives who are single-issue voters (abortion), most Latinos maintain a more socially active political view of acceptance. The majority balk at the inhumanity of the current GOP.
However, Republicans only need a small bump from Latino, Black, and other non-white voters to make all the difference in the world. And that’s what they are after.
Small numbers.
Arturo is a journalist navigating the intersection of politics and race and the publisher of The Antagonist Magazine. You can find him on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.