Recovery effort in Catano town, in Juana Matos, Puerto Rico, after Hurricane Maria, September 21, 2017
(Hector Retamal/AFP/Getty)

The Trump Administration moves at least $155 million from disaster funds, as a likely hurricane bears down on Puerto Rico, for its “zero tolerance” crackdown on immigration.

The Department of Homeland Security told Congress that it will take the money from the Federal Emergency Management. The funds will be used for beds in detention centers, and for transportation and deportation of immigrants to Mexico.

Homeland Security said $271 million in total will be “reprogrammed” for immigration enforcement from elsewhere in the department, according to documents obtained by CNN.

“This is a must-pay bill that needed to be addressed,” said a DHS official.

Last week, in its latest step against undocumented immigrants, the Administration sets out guidelines to detain families indefinitely, defying a 1997 court settlement.

Other measures have included the holding of thousands of migrants in inhumane conditions in centers in the southwest US, restrictions on the legal right of asylum, and the separation of immigrant children and parents.

See TrumpWatch, Day 945: Trump Administration Plans for Indefinite Detention of Immigrant Families

Meanwhile, Tropical Storm Dorian is nearing hurricane strength as it approaches Puerto Rico, which was devastated in September 2017 by a hurricane which killed more than 3,000 people and left much of the island’s population without power and clean water for months.

FEMA insisted in a statement that the remaining $447 million its core Disaster Relief Fund account “will be sufficient to support operational needs and will not impact ongoing long-term recovery efforts across the country”. It said the “Majors” account for ongoing recovery efforts, including those after the 2017 hurricanes that struck Puerto Rico, Florida, and Texas has “approximately $27 billion and is not impacted by the reprogramming”.

But the DHS official said of the transfer of funds, “We would not say that this is with no risk”, although he said steps would try to “minimize” the possibility.

And Democratic legislators were not assured. Writing Acting Homeland Security Director Kevin McAleenan, Rep. Lucille Roybal-Allard,the chair of the House Homeland Security Appropriations Subcommittee, said she had “significant concerns about the intended use of funds”.

House Homeland Security Chairman Bennie Thompson said in a statement:

[The Administration is] flouting the law and Congressional intent to fund its extremist indefinite detention immigration policies.

Taking money away from TSA [Transportation Security Administration] and from FEMA in the middle of hurricane season could have deadly consequences.

Last year, Homeland Security moved about $10 million from FEMA’s operating budget to fund immigration detention and deportations. The Administration also redirected $200 million from parts of Homeland Security to Immigration and Customs Enforcement in summer 2018.

Trump Sneers at Puerto Rico

Donald Trump continued his insults of Puerto Rico and its leaders on Wednesday, and his insistence — despite widespread criticism of the Federal Government’s response to Hurricane Maria — that he had helped residents.

He maintained that “FEMA and all others are ready” for Tropical Storm Dorian and “will do a great job”, repeating his complaint that he did not get credit in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria: “When they do, let them know it, and give them a big Thank You – Not like last time.”

Trump added another jab at the mayor of Puerto Rico’s largest city, Carmen Yulín Cruz, “That includes from the incompetent Mayor of San Juan!”

Yulín Cruz provoked Trump’s ire when, as Puerto Ricans struggled with lack of supplies amid a rising death toll, she challenged the slowness of Washington’s response to Hurricane Maria. Trump responded with his favorite insult for women whom he despises, “nasty”, a term he also uses for Hillary Clinton, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen.

The mayor said on Tuesday that Trump should “get out of the way” as Puerto Rico prepared for the storm:

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 are trying to do their best. 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.

Three thousand Puerto Ricans did not open their eyes this morning because this racist man did not have it within him to do his job. So get out of the way, President Trump, and let the people who can do the job get the job done.