Opinion and Commentary
To the Editor,
During a public town hall meeting Monday in San Angelo, an attendee made a demonstrably false and easily disprovable statement suggesting that FEMA dollars being used for the detention and deportation of illegal migrants comes at the expense of FEMA dollars that could be used for disaster relief in San Angelo. It’s important to publicly correct it.
Not one dollar in FEMA funds is being diverted from disaster response to the deportation efforts. The comment was made in specific reference to a large detention center in Florida that the questioner called a “concentration camp.” The left-leaning FACTCHECK.org has written on the matter and notes, “The initial $450 million needed to create and operate the detention center in its first year was provided by the state of Florida, WINK News reported. The state will seek reimbursement through FEMA’s Shelter and Services Program, not the agency’s Disaster Relief Fund, which supports recovery efforts associated with major disasters and emergencies. As we’ve written, the Disaster Relief Fund receives separate funding from Congress.”
Within only a few days of the storm FEMA declared Tom Green County eligible for Individual Assistance and to date over 1,400 residents have registered. Furthermore the leadership at Goodfellow Air Force Base reports to us that all military members who requested assistance are being supported. (Nobody asked about that.)
As for the claim that illegal migrant detention centers are “concentration camps” I trust most will see that as partisan hyperbole.
The fact is 30,000 detainees currently in ICE custody have criminal records or pending charges. Where do critics of their detention propose these 30,000 detainees be held as they await deportation? One is left to assume they want to maintain the Biden-era policy that these criminals get to stay in the US.
John Byers
Chief of Staff
Congressman August Pfluger
Editor’s Note:
We previously provided a fact check on the statement referenced by Mr. Byers in Pfluger Town Hall Fact Check.
Mr. Byers letter also requires us to add some additional context.
The Question That Was Asked
According to the Concho Observer’s recording of the exchange Mr. Byers is referring to, the woman’s question was actually about whether or not he (Congressman Pfluger) had questioned the secretary of Homeland Security regarding the use of FEMA funds, a question he did not answer directly at that time.
Question: “. . . but the trump administration is now sending 650 million dollars of FEMA money to build concentration camps like Alligator Alcatraz with FEMA money instead of using that to support your constituents who are displaced from the flooding, so — in your conversations with the Homeland [Security] secretary, have you discussed that the better use of those funds is for your constituents who are still in temporary lodging, [emphasis added] who can’t get back into their houses, instead of things like Alligator Alcatraz?”
Pfluger: “Thank you for your question.” That statement is false. That there is money that is being redirected and not put toward disaster response. That’s categorically false. A concentration camp? Guy’s are we kidding? A concentration camp?”
Later the Congressman added:
Pfluger: “So the assertion that 650 million dollars was sent somewhere else instead of to the military personnel in Paulann is not true. That is completely false. So let’s move on to what the facts are.”
The questioner never actually accused FEMA of diverting funds from flood relief to build internment camps for deportees. According to the recording, the Congressman failed to answer the question asked, or did not listen closely before he responded.
Concentration Camps?
As to calling the facilities “concentrations camps”, that certainly is a loaded term and can mean different things to different people.
The Congressman attempted to equate “concentration camp” to mean those used by the German government in the 1940s for the mass murder of millions of people. That is certainly the type that comes most readily to mind.
But the United States also used concentration camps during World War II. It imprisoned over 120,000 Japanese Americans under armed guard for the duration of the war. These citizens were deprived of their property, personal freedom and constitutional rights.
While these were not mass murder sites, they were concentration camps by definition. A legitimate argument can be made that the same thing is occurring now.
Whether “concentration camp” is the correct term to use because it is so loaded can be debated, but that does not by itself make the statement a partisan attack.
Criminals in Detention
According to the Transactional Access Records Clearing House website, a non-profit and non-partisan research center at Syracuse University, ICE currently holds around 56,945 persons in detention.
71% of those (39,862) have no criminal conviction. This includes persons who currently have existing criminal charges, around 24.7% (14,065) according to Snopes. An estimated 28.3% (16,115) do have criminal convictions.
As the number of persons arrested, released or deported is always changing these numbers are only estimates. The right leaning CATO Institute reported similar numbers and trends in June.
The Associated Press also has reported that the Trump Administration is primarily holding persons with no criminal record, and is not targeting convicted criminals and terrorists for deportation.
