White House calls Trump's claim FEMA disaster relief money spent on migrants 'absolutely false'
DHS pushed back on his claim FEMA has no funds left for recovery efforts.
The Biden White House on Friday called "absolutely false" former President Donald Trump's claim the Federal Emergency Management Agency has given so much money to cities to deal with the influx of migrants that it has no funds left to deal with disasters.
FEMA also is pushing back on misinformation it says has circulated on social media about the agency's efforts to help victims of Hurricane Helene.
After Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said Wednesday that FEMA does not have the funds to make it through the hurricane season, Trump and Republican allies seized on it, saying the victims are suffering because of it.
In the wake of Hurricane Helene, ABC News' "Good Morning America" is set to provide five days of special coverage titled "Southeast Strong: Help After Helene"(#SoutheastStrong), spotlighting communities across the southeast impacted by Hurricane Helene and the urgent efforts to help them recover.
He repeated the claim on Friday in Georgia, saying "a billion dollars was stolen from FEMA to use it for illegal migrants, many of whom are criminals, to come into our country, and FEMA is now busted. They have no money."
GOP Texas Rep.Troy Nehls tweeted that the administration "continues to put the American people last" by FEMA spending over a billion dollars in aid to migrants.
"This is FALSE," senior deputy press secretary Andrew Bates wrote in a memo circulated to reporters on Friday. "No disaster relief funding at all was used to support migrants housing and services. None. At. All."
Bates wrote that funding for migrant services is run through a separate "spigot" at Customs and Border Patrol, and ultimately administered by FEMA, but that it's in "no way related" to FEMA's hurricane recovery efforts, which he said are plentiful for immediate Helene response.
"I want people to know that FEMA has enough money and that we are here to support you," Jaclyn Rothenberg, director of public affairs at FEMA, told ABC News in a phone interview. "We've seen posts where people say, I'm not going to apply because My neighbor needs more help than me. Still apply. Please apply. We want you to get help from us. We are here actively working around the clock to support you. We want to encourage people to apply for assistance."
FEMA has also launched a web page dedicated to pushing back on what it says is misinformation about the federal government's response.
That includes claims FEMA is asking for cash and turning away volunteers -- which the agency says also aren't true.
"FEMA does not and will not ever take donations from survivors and rumors of FEMA armed guards stopping vehicles with donations or taking donations from organizations are absolutely false," Rothenberg said. "Volunteer agencies specialize in handling those donations and are actively on the ground helping people affected by Helene."
Another rumor that is circulating on social media is that victims can get only $750 from FEMA.
People who apply for relief will get $750 for immediate needs -- but the agency says people will qualify for more as their application moves through the agency.
"The $750 is just to get some immediate cash into your pockets," Rothenberg said. "When you apply for FEMA you are also signing up for other benefits, and that is just the first amount of cash to hit your bank account that is intended for immediate food, baby formula, breastfeeding supplies, medicine that you may need, then, based on what your unique needs are, you can also receive displacement assistance."
Willie Nunn, who is coordinating Helene's disaster response on the ground in South Carolina, told ABC News that "to have that out there...all you're going to get is a negative impact on our survivors."
Nunn and his team have been on the ground coordinating the response to the Hurricane since October 1.
"Any misinformation is damaging misinformation," Nunn said. "There is no one size fit all solution." He urged people to call FEMA's 1-800 number to get to get the facts.
"We're putting boots on the ground to make sure when we can get out, when we have access to folks and they have access to us, that we can combat these rumors," he said.
Rothenberg said the level of misinformation on social media has been "exacerbated" in the last few federal disaster responses.