Musks Says FEMA Spent $60M Housing Illegal Immigrants In ‘Luxury Hotels’ Last Week

Elon Musk said Monday that his “Department of Government Efficiency” (DOGE) team discovered that FEMA spent nearly $60 million to house illegal immigrants in “luxury” New York City hotels last week. 

In response, acting FEMA Director Cameron Hamilton said the payments had been suspended, and the employees who authorized them would be disciplined. 

“The [DOGE] team just discovered that FEMA sent $59M LAST WEEK to luxury hotels in New York City to house illegal migrants,” Musk posted on X early Monday morning. “Sending this money violated the law and is in gross insubordination to the President’s executive order.”

“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 added. 

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.

That money is meant for American disaster relief…

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 10, 2025

Musk’s announcement came after DOGE reportedly started looking into FEMA over the weekend. On Sunday, Musk posted on his social media platform that the agency “is broken.” 

Hamilton, a former Navy SEAL, was appointed by President Donald Trump last month to run FEMA as acting chief. 

“I want to thank the [DOGE] team for making me aware of this. Effective yesterday these payments have all been suspended from FEMA. Personnel will be held accountable,” Hamilton said. 

He also said that Congress should not have passed legislation in 2023 and 2024 authorizing the agency to facilitate housing programs for illegal immigrants. Hamilton was referring to FEMA administering the shelter and services program for illegal immigrants, which has cost more than $1.4 billion since the fall of 2022. 

While on the campaign trail, President Trump was sharply critical of the illegal immigrant housing programs administered by FEMA. He said that hurricane victims were being mistreated while illegal immigrants received free housing. 

On January 24, he issued an executive order creating a council to assess the agency and its programs. 

“There are serious concerns of political bias in FEMA. Indeed, at least one former FEMA responder has stated that FEMA managers directed her to avoid homes of individuals supporting the campaign of Donald J. Trump for President,” the executive order said. “And it has lost mission focus, diverting limited staff and resources to support missions beyond its scope and authority, spending well over a billion dollars to welcome illegal aliens.”

In addition to Trump’s council, multiple ongoing investigations into FEMA were launched after The Daily Wire reported that a supervisor in Florida ordered relief workers to “avoid homes advertising Trump.”

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