Sen. Jeff Merkley uncovered a cruel money transfer in FEMA's budget

Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR) has been working to reunite immigrant children with their families after being indefinitely confined to “detention camps” that are quickly becoming longtime internment camps. Daily Kos staff writer Gabe Ortiz reminds us today, as he frustratingly does every single day, that 400 children remain separated from their parents, imprisoned in these detention centers. He also notes that these longterm detention centers are growing at a frightening pace. Already the “temporary” prison camp in Tornillo, Texas, has expanded from 400 beds at the start of the summer to 3,800 beds now.

So, how are they paying for this cruelty? We can’t give teachers raises, properly fund our education system, healthcare system, or infrastructure projects, so where did the money come from to expand ICE operations?

Sen. Jeff Merkley appeared on The Rachel Maddow Show to provide answers last night. Roughly $10 million in ICE’s new funding has been taken from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) hurricane relief and recovery funds. And they did it just ahead of hurricane season, at a time when one of the effects of climate change is an increase in the number and intensity of hurricanes worldwide.

This is a must-watch segment with Sen. Jeff Merkley. It’s cruelty on top of cruelty.