Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC) has introduced a bill to stop the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) from “bankrolling luxury stays” for illegal immigrants, saying the Biden administration’s policies are “insanity, and it stops now.”
Mace, who did a ride-along with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents last month while they apprehended “dangerous” illegal aliens in her hometown of Goose Creek, South Carolina, announced the move in a Friday news release.
The bill, called the Alien Removal Not Resort Stays Act, would shut down FEMA’s illegal alien shelter program and redirect those funds to ICE’s detention and deportation efforts.
In May 2023, New York City Mayor Eric Adams (D) revealed that half of all hotels across the city at the time, including many luxury hotels, were housing tens of thousands of migrants.
Just earlier this month, the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) uncovered a recent $59 million FEMA payment to house illegal aliens in “luxury hotels in New York City,” DOGE leader Elon Musk said.
Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem reported that she dealt with it quickly, saying that she “clawed back” the full payment made by FEMA.
“Mark my words: there will not be a single penny spent that goes against the interest and safety of the American people,” she vowed on X:
The latest reports of FEMA funding came after the Biden administration claimed the agency was not using funds to support illegal aliens.
“It’s just categorically false. It is not true,” former White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters in October 2024 — contradicting a prior statement she made during a September 2022 press conference.
When asked if the White House planned to reimburse cities who saw migrants bused to their areas, she replied, “FEMA regional administrators have been meeting with city officials on site to coordinate available federal support from FEMA and other federal agencies.”
“Funding is also available through FEMA’s emergency food and shelter program to eligible local governments and not for profit organizations upon request to support humanitarian relief for migrants,” Jean-Pierre added.
“The past four years have been a free-for-all for illegal aliens—sanctuary cities handing out benefits and Biden’s DHS waving people through like it’s a theme park entrance,” said Mace. “The left has spent billions of our tax dollars housing illegal aliens in hotels. It’s insanity, and it stops now. If you break our laws, you shouldn’t get a taxpayer-funded stay at a resort—you should be detained and deported. It’s time to shut off the gravy train.”