A key component of President Joe Biden’s expansive Catch and Release network for border crossers and illegal aliens released into the United States is plagued with “misuse of funds and fraud,” according to federal investigators.
In 2021, Biden authorized the use of $110 million in American taxpayer dollars to go to newly arrived border crossers and illegal aliens who are released into the U.S. interior.
The taxpayer money, allocated through the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) Emergency Food and Shelter Program, goes to non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in border states like California, New Mexico, Arizona, and Texas that then funnel the money to the new arrivals.
A Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Inspector General (IG) report, though, accuses the agency of misspending the money and not requiring NGOs to verify to whom the money is going.
“We reviewed $12.9 million from 18 [NGOs] and found they did not always use the funds consistent with the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 Humanitarian Relief Funding and Application Guidance,” the federal report states:
Specifically, the [NGOs] did not always provide the required receipts or documentation for claimed reimbursements. In addition, some of the [NGOs] were unable to provide supporting documentation for families and individuals to whom they provided services. Also, we determined some families and individuals did not have a DHS encounter record. [Emphasis added]
…
We questioned $7.4 million, or 58 percent, of the $12.9 million we reviewed because, after several attempts, we were unable to obtain the required supporting documentation. Without additional oversight and enforcement from FEMA and the National Board, [NGOs] may continue to use the funds for services without providing the required supporting documentation for reimbursement, increasing the risk of misuse of funds and fraud. [Emphasis added]
Biden’s Catch and Release network via the border has made the funding sources through this program possible as American communities struggle to absorb a constant stream of tens of thousands of border crossers and illegal aliens released into the U.S. interior every month.
The latest available data, from February 2021 to January 2023, show that Biden’s DHS has released nearly two million border crossers and illegal aliens into American communities. DHS is not required to publicly disclose the number of new arrivals that are released.
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John Binder is a reporter for Breitbart News. Email him at jbinder@breitbart.com. Follow him on Twitter here.