Warren, Lawmakers Call for Additional Emergency Food and Shelter Program Assistance for NGOs, States, and Localities Serving Migrant Families
Washington D.C. - U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) joined Senator Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) and colleagues in sending a letter to the Senate Appropriations Committee urging them to include $500 million for the Emergency Food and Shelter Program’s (EFSP) humanitarian assistance program in appropriations legislation for FY 2023.
“Communities and organizations are on the front-lines of assisting migrants coming to our border, and resources are being stretched thin as they take on the role of performing a federal government function,” wrote the lawmakers. “This funding is vitally important as more cities in the United States receive refugees and asylum seekers.”
EFSP is a FEMA-funded program that supports local nonprofits, governmental social service organizations, and states and localities in providing shelter, food, transportation, and supportive services to migrants. Additional EFSP funds will help these assisting NGOs and localities provide support services for arriving migrants.
“Given that the federal government has asked states, localities, and non-profits to perform an essential governmental function, Congress must reaffirm its commitment to these states, localities, and non-profits by providing significant additional funding for EFSP,” continued the lawmakers. “These funds are needed to ensure that shelters do not face financial difficulties or are not forced to stop their operations, which would simply shift even more of the burden to our local communities.”
In addition, the letter was also co-signed by Senators Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.), Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.), Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.), and Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.).
Senator Warren has consistently led efforts to protect the rights of migrants and ensure necessary resources and funds—especially through EFSP—are allocated to those helping them:
- In October 2022, Senator Warren led a letter with the Massachusetts Congressional Delegation to FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell and EFSP Chair Michael Lee requesting help for local organizations to find the resources they need to support newly arrived migrants in Massachusetts.
- In October 2022, Senators Warren and Markey sent a letter to the Biden Administration urging extension and redesignation of TPS for Haiti. The Biden Administration heeded this request earlier this week.
- In September 2022, Senator Warren joined colleagues in a letter to Senate Appropriations Committee leadership urging them to provide additional humanitarian assistance funding for EFSP in the Continuing Resolution.
- In September 2022, Senator Warren released a statement decrying efforts to use asylum seekers as political pawns and committed to assisting communities in need. Warren sent a letter asking FEMA and the Department of Homeland Security to ensure that EFSP is awarding funds as quickly as possible to Massachusetts entities providing humanitarian aid to migrants flown to Martha’s Vineyard and others who had recently arrived in the Boston area.
- In May 2022, Senator Warren joined a letter to Senate appropriators requesting robust funding for FEMA’s EFSP program for the upcoming year.
- In July 2022, Senator Warren called on the Biden administration to extend Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Venezuela in light of the deteriorating political and economic situation in the country.
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