Trump's interim FEMA chief contradicts president's assertions about disaster funds
A court document submitted by acting FEMA administrator Cameron Hamilton challenges the administration's misinformation campaign regarding disaster aid.
TroibNews 
The head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has contradicted President Donald Trump's unfounded claims about the agency using disaster aid to assist undocumented migrants. In recent court documents, Cameron Hamilton, the acting administrator of FEMA, clarified that the funds for migrant aid are sourced from a distinct program designed “to provide temporary shelter and other services to aliens released from custody."
Trump and his supporters, including some Congressional Republicans and Hamilton himself, have propagated misinformation alleging that FEMA diverted disaster resources to accommodate migrants who crossed the southwest border illegally. Prior to his appointment by Trump, Hamilton even used his personal X account to amplify these misleading accusations.
In his court filing this week, Hamilton effectively retracted those statements by referencing legislation passed by Congress, which, including support from the Republican-controlled House, established the Shelter and Services Program in 2023 and 2024. This program facilitates hotel accommodations for migrants released from federal custody after unauthorized entry into the U.S. from Mexico.
Hamilton's filing is part of the Trump administration's defense against a lawsuit filed by Democratic attorneys general in Rhode Island, seeking to prevent a proposed freeze on federal grants. Recently, a federal judge approved the administration's request to pause payments associated with the Shelter and Services Program.
FEMA did not offer a comment when approached.
The program has come under intense scrutiny, particularly this week when Elon Musk erroneously asserted that FEMA was utilizing disaster aid funds to provide lavish hotel accommodations for migrants. His claims sparked a chain reaction, including the government’s move to recover $80 million that FEMA allocated to New York City for migrant housing at city hotels.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem stated on Wednesday, “I have clawed back the full payment that FEMA deep state activists unilaterally gave to NYC migrant hotels.”
A day before this announcement, Noem dismissed four FEMA employees, including Chief Financial Officer Mary Comans, who had facilitated payments to New York City that were approved by FEMA in 2024, prior to Trump's election.
In her Wednesday statement, Noem seemed to contradict her own assertions that New York City provided “luxury hotels” for migrants by specifying that they were residing in the Roosevelt Hotel, which has been repurposed for temporary migrant housing since its closure in 2020.
Noem also labeled the Roosevelt Hotel as a “base of operations” for the Tren de Aragua gang, a Venezuelan criminal organization.
Hamilton elaborated on the situation regarding the Roosevelt Hotel in his court filing, noting that “the vicious Venezuelan gang Tren De Aragua has taken over the hotel and is using it as a recruiting center and base of operations to plan a variety of crimes.” He asserted these include “gun and drug sales as well as sex trafficking, which can reasonably be presumed to be conducted in the hotel itself.”
In a Monday post on X, Musk claimed that FEMA allocated $59 million last week “to luxury hotels in New York City to house illegal migrants,” adding, “That money is meant for American disaster relief and instead is being spent on high-end hotels for illegals!” Musk, who heads the so-called Department of Government Efficiency, received a response from Hamilton, who remarked, “I want to thank the @DOGE team for making me aware of this,” and confirmed that all payments “have been suspended."
Lucas Dupont contributed to this report for TROIB News
Trump and his supporters, including some Congressional Republicans and Hamilton himself, have propagated misinformation alleging that FEMA diverted disaster resources to accommodate migrants who crossed the southwest border illegally. Prior to his appointment by Trump, Hamilton even used his personal X account to amplify these misleading accusations.
In his court filing this week, Hamilton effectively retracted those statements by referencing legislation passed by Congress, which, including support from the Republican-controlled House, established the Shelter and Services Program in 2023 and 2024. This program facilitates hotel accommodations for migrants released from federal custody after unauthorized entry into the U.S. from Mexico.
Hamilton's filing is part of the Trump administration's defense against a lawsuit filed by Democratic attorneys general in Rhode Island, seeking to prevent a proposed freeze on federal grants. Recently, a federal judge approved the administration's request to pause payments associated with the Shelter and Services Program.
FEMA did not offer a comment when approached.
The program has come under intense scrutiny, particularly this week when Elon Musk erroneously asserted that FEMA was utilizing disaster aid funds to provide lavish hotel accommodations for migrants. His claims sparked a chain reaction, including the government’s move to recover $80 million that FEMA allocated to New York City for migrant housing at city hotels.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem stated on Wednesday, “I have clawed back the full payment that FEMA deep state activists unilaterally gave to NYC migrant hotels.”
A day before this announcement, Noem dismissed four FEMA employees, including Chief Financial Officer Mary Comans, who had facilitated payments to New York City that were approved by FEMA in 2024, prior to Trump's election.
In her Wednesday statement, Noem seemed to contradict her own assertions that New York City provided “luxury hotels” for migrants by specifying that they were residing in the Roosevelt Hotel, which has been repurposed for temporary migrant housing since its closure in 2020.
Noem also labeled the Roosevelt Hotel as a “base of operations” for the Tren de Aragua gang, a Venezuelan criminal organization.
Hamilton elaborated on the situation regarding the Roosevelt Hotel in his court filing, noting that “the vicious Venezuelan gang Tren De Aragua has taken over the hotel and is using it as a recruiting center and base of operations to plan a variety of crimes.” He asserted these include “gun and drug sales as well as sex trafficking, which can reasonably be presumed to be conducted in the hotel itself.”
In a Monday post on X, Musk claimed that FEMA allocated $59 million last week “to luxury hotels in New York City to house illegal migrants,” adding, “That money is meant for American disaster relief and instead is being spent on high-end hotels for illegals!” Musk, who heads the so-called Department of Government Efficiency, received a response from Hamilton, who remarked, “I want to thank the @DOGE team for making me aware of this,” and confirmed that all payments “have been suspended."
Lucas Dupont contributed to this report for TROIB News
