Investigation Reveals Nonprofit Using Tax Funds Inappropriately for Migrant Plane Tickets

The Catholic Charities of San Antonio is accused of using tax dollars to pay for the travel of illegal migrants to their chosen destinations, as reported by Border Report.

“These tax dollars were not meant to be used for flying illegal immigrants all over the country to wherever they wanted,” stated Rep. Monica De La Cruz, R-Tex. “They misused funds and used taxpayers’ money to send these illegal immigrants to their preferred destinations. This is unacceptable.”

Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Tex., expressed concern over the funds provided through the FEMA Shelter and Services Program being misused to buy airline tickets for migrants.

“When I established this program, I specified that it should only cover food, shelter, and perhaps local transportation within a city, but not sending them to distant locations. The responsibility for that should lie with the family or someone else, not with taxpayer money.”

The FEMA program was originally intended to reimburse nonprofits for costs related to providing humanitarian aid to migrants, like food and shelter, explicitly excluding air travel. Cuellar pointed out that the program does set aside a certain percentage of funds for transportation, but emphasized that it was meant for emergency local travel.

At present, Catholic Charities of San Antonio has not responded to the accusations. The organization is scheduled to receive an additional $10.8 million in funding through the FEMA program for its MRS Centro de Bienvenida.