In a letter sent over the weekend, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) denied an additional emergency request from Texas Governor Gregg Abbott. The Gov. asked FEMA to reconsider its previous denial to approve Texas’s request for an emergency declaration to assist in the ongoing border disaster.
In the letter to the Texas Gov., obtained by the Washington Examiner, FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell wrote:
After a thorough review of all the information contained in your initial request and appeal, we reaffirm our original findings that supplemental federal assistance under the Stafford Act is not warranted for this event. Therefore, I must inform you that your appeal for an emergency declaration is denied.
In a letter sent to the White House in late September, Gov. Abbott initially asked President Biden for help dealing with the border crisis. Abbott pointed out that counties in his state had been in crisis since late May and requested that the President “honor his disaster status and foot the bill to cover the higher-than-normal state and local operations on the basis that ‘border security is a federal responsibility,’” reports the Washington Examiner.
President Biden denied the first claim resulting in Gov. Abbott appealing the decision on Oct. 7. This time the Texas Gov. was backed by Texas Senators John Cornyn and Ted Cruz, who co-wrote an additional letter to President Biden.
The Texas Senators wrote:
In the last eight months alone, over a million individuals crossed illegally into the United States, which is now on pace for over 2 million illegal crossings for 2021. The state and local communities in Texas bear direct and indirect costs of the increasing volume of illegal immigration along the southwest border, and federal assistance is necessary to further protect the lives, property, public health, and safety of the communities along the border.
In June, Gov. Abbott requested law enforcement and National Guard troops from other states to help deal with the crisis unfolding along the southern border; several states answered the call. However, now most of that out-of-state help has returned home as Gov. say they can not deal with the costs and need law enforcement back in their communities to deal with recent crime surges. This has left Texas alone in dealing with Biden’s border crisis.
The Washington Examiner concludes:
Earlier this year, the Texas Legislature passed a $1.8 billion emergency border security bill that allowed Abbott to implement his plan to curb illegal immigration from Mexico and install more than 700 miles of border barrier. The $1.8 billion is in addition to the $1 billion that the Texas Legislature approved this spring for border security operations over the next two years.
For the complete story, please visit the Washington Examiner.
