The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) says it has fired four employees responsible for funneling $59 million to several New York City hotels to house illegal immigrants in contravention of an executive order signed by President Donald J. Trump. Whether all four employees were with DHS or the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is unclear.
Yesterday, The National Pulse reported that DHS said it would fire the individual—or individuals—responsible for paying $59 million to New York City for illegal immigrant housing. “Individuals who circumvented leadership and unilaterally made this payment will be fired and held accountable,” DHS spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin said, responding to revelations of the payments posted on X (formerly Twitter) by Elon Musk.
Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) uncovered the payments early Monday, with the SpaceX chief posting on X: “The DOGE team just discovered that FEMA sent $59M LAST WEEK to luxury hotels in New York City to house illegal migrants.”
“Sending this money violated the law and is in gross insubordination to the President’s executive order,” Musk continued, adding: “That money is meant for American disaster relief and instead is being spent on high end hotels for illegals!”
“A clawback demand will be made today to recoup those funds,” Musk concluded.
According to New York City, the $59 million was part of funding authorized under the Biden government for the housing of illegal immigrants and other support. Of the total, $19 million was directly spent on hotel and housing costs, while the remainder covered food, clothing, and building security.