Could a FEMA declaration help the NYC migrant crisis?
- The Stafford Act of 1988 gives the president broad authority
- Lawmakers and FEMA officials disagree on whether it could help migrants
- NYC officials say they’re struggling to care for the influx of migrants
TOPSHOT – Migrants camp outside a hotel where they had previously been housed, as they resist efforts by the city to relocate them to a Brooklyn facility for asylum seekers, in the Hells Kitchen neighborhood of New York on January 31, 2023. – The Brooklyn facility is the city’s fifth relief center amid a continued influx of asylum seekers, according to local media. (Photo by Ed JONES / AFP) (Photo by ED JONES/AFP via Getty Images)
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WASHINGTON (NewsNation) — Depending on how officials and lawmakers interpret it, a 1988 emergency declaration act could be used to provide more assistance to migrants in New York City.
Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) officials testified before the House of Representatives Thursday to address the agency’s future disaster responses amid a changing climate. During the hearing, Rep. Dan Goldman, D-N.Y., questioned whether the Stafford Act of 1988 could be used to help the migrants bused to New York City from the southern border.
“It is my view as a former lawyer, and I guess current lawyer, that the migrant crisis is a threat to public health and safety in New York City and that it would qualify for an emergency declaration under the Stafford Act, which is different from the major disaster declaration,” Goldman said.
The act’s definition of “emergency” is below:
“‘Emergency’ means any occasion or instance for which, in the determination of the President, Federal assistance is needed to supplement State and local efforts and capabilities to save lives and to protect property and public health and safety, or to lessen or avert the threat of a catastrophe in any part of the United States.”
That definition is different from the act’s definition of a “major disaster” declaration — which are commonly called for in the wake of floods, tornadoes, hurricanes and other natural disasters.
FEMA administrator Deanne Criswell, however, told Rep. Goldman she doesn’t believe the language in the Stafford Act could be used to help New York City’s migrant crisis.
“The way the Stafford Act is implemented and the emergency declarations, they are designed to support an imminent threat to life safety and life-sustaining operations,” she said.
More than 70,000 migrants have come to New York City in recent months and more than half are still in the care of the city, Mayor Eric Adams told CBS’ “Face The Nation” in June.
