Lawmakers approve additional refugee aid after 'Remain in Mexico' influx

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The state needs five times as much cash to aid refugees.

State lawmakers have approved an additional $33.3 million in federal funds to provide cash assistance to the increasing number of arriving refugees.

The Joint Legislative Budget Commission on Tuesday OK’d the Department of Children and Families to spend those funds through the Refugee Cash Assistance Program. That program grants cash for up to eight months to new refugees who are ineligible for Temporary Aid for Needy Families benefits.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services fully funds the Refugee Cash Assistance Program, leaving no additional cost to the state.

DCF Director of Budget, Finance and Accounting Chad Barrett told lawmakers the funding would “support the increase in newly arriving refugees entering the state of Florida.”

The Legislature had previously given DCF the authority to spend $6.7 million through the Refugee Cash Assistance Program. But with the estimated number of recipients for the current fiscal year hitting nearly 150,000, DCF will need $39.3 million to offer cash to the eligible recipients, pentuple the original allocation.

Between October 2020 and June 2021, most refugees arriving in Florida came from Cuba, Haiti and Venezuela. However, Florida is seeing more refugees after President Joe Biden‘s administration suspended the “Remain in Mexico” policy, which keeps asylum applicants waiting in Mexico.

However, the U.S. Supreme Court in August ordered the Biden administration to reinstate that policy.

“It is unclear at this time whether the trend of eligible arrivals will continue at the same rate or if the recent increase reflects a short-term change,” according to DCF and the Governor’s Office’s budget amendment request.

Gov. Ron DeSantis has railed against the Biden administration for undoing immigration policies instituted under former President Donald Trump. Among the suspended policies he has linked to increased crime is the “Remain in Mexico” policy.

Earlier Thursday, DeSantis criticized the Biden administration for relocating to Florida people who came to the country illegally without notifying the state. He called the move reckless and wrong and said he would ask the Legislature to seek ways to curb that federal policy.

DeSantis’ critiques came off the heels of a New York Post report that a 24-year old Honduran immigrant, Yery Noel Medina Ulloa, who told authorities he was 17 when entering the country, killed a Jacksonville man who gave him a place to stay.

“Should have never been in this country to begin with and definitely should not have been dumped in the state of Florida,” DeSantis said. “These are middle of the night flights, no notification to the state or anybody. This is not the way you keep people safe.”

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8 comments

PeterH
November 4, 2021 at 5:09 pm

The majority of America’s refugees are coming from Iraq and Afghanistan. America’s wars have consequences beyond lost American soldier lives and disabilities. Our tax money will be paying for the consequences of this failed nation building exercise for the next three decades.

Any whining from DeSantis is strictly political red meat for his deplorable racist base.
Alex
November 4, 2021 at 5:14 pm

DeAnus knows he’s lying when he claims the immigrants are bringing crime.

Funny how the biggest BS Refugs screech about is so often about brown people.

Undocumented immigrants far less likely to commit crimes in U.S. than citizens
https://news.wisc.edu/undocumented-immigrants-far-less-likely-to-commit-crimes-in-u-s-than-citizens/
Bennett Marco
November 4, 2021 at 6:20 pm

We need to repopulate the country with undocumented immigrants and deport the rethugs, insurrectionists, rednecks, and various other dumb ass red raw trumpists and white supremacists.
- Jim Fox
  November 4, 2021 at 9:07 pm
  
  It’s because of socialist dumbazzs like this is why the country is in the position it’s in now. Get ready to be taxed.
Ken
November 4, 2021 at 9:00 pm

Know who you do business with. The following companies support, fund, Joe Biden, the Democrat party, BLM and other far left organizations. Financial BOYCOTT whenever possible the following socialist enablers. Patriots, pass this along….

AFLAC
Amazon
American Airlines
American Express
Amway
Apple
AT&T
Bank of America
Baskin Robbins
Best Buy
Carl’s Jr.
Capital One
Chase
Cigna
Cisco
Coca-Cola
Corona Beer
Dell Technologies
Deloitte
Delta Airlines
Discover Financial Services
Discovery channel
Discovery Plus
Dunkin Donuts
ESPN
Estee Lauder
Facebook
Fed-Ex
Ford Motor Co.
General Motors
Google
Goldman Sachs
IBM
Jack in the Box
Johnson & Johnson
JetBlue
Kohls
Levi Strauss & Co
Little Caesars
Lowes Hardware
MasterCard
Merck
Microsoft
Modello Beer
NBA
Nerd Wallet
Netflix
NFL
Nordstrom
Nurtec
MLB
Pacifico Beer
Oxygen
OWN
PayPal
PBS
Peloton
Pinterest
Reddit
Rocket Mortgage
Sonic Rest.
Starbucks
State Farm Insurance
Synchrony
Target Stores
The General Insurance
TBS
TNT
Tripadvisor
Twitter
United Airlines
US Bank
USA today
Vanguard
Varo Bank
Verizon
ViacomCBS
Vivint
Walgreens
Wayfair
Wells Fargo
Wendy’s
WNBA
- PeterH
  November 4, 2021 at 9:42 pm
  
  LOL
  - Captain Howdy
    November 4, 2021 at 9:55 pm
    
    Keep laughing, Lincoln Project flunky boy. The people you admire like odious Rick Wilson are a bunch of libturd fuck ups, like you
    
    https://theintercept.com/2021/11/03/lincoln-project-charlottesville-glenn-youngkin/
Hazzzer
November 5, 2021 at 11:58 pm

Wow Joe Biden is using illegals, and weaponizing them. Taking local resources from natives, Creating more problems for the Opposite party that is in power. That is dirty Obama style politics for sure.