Jonathan Bachman/Reuters
The Trump administration reportedly diverted nearly $10 million from the budget for the Federal Emergency Management Administration to Immigration and Customs Enforcement right before hurricane season began this year. Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR) on Tuesday night released documents purporting to show the Department of Homeland Security’s official request to transfer the funds, which were needed for “higher priority detention and removal requirements” amid President Trump’s ongoing immigration crackdown. The transfer “means that just as hurricane season is starting… the administration is working hard to find funds for child detention camps,” Merkley told MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow. According to MSNBC, a DHS spokesperson confirmed the financial transfer but said the money did not come from disaster response and recovery efforts. The news comes after Trump praised his administration’s handling of last year’s hurricane season as an “unsung success,” despite the loss of 2,975 lives in Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria.