During an Oct. 7 appearance on “Fox and Friends,” 2024 Republican vice presidential nominee and Ohio Sen. JD Vance claimed “that the Biden-Harris administration has turned [the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)] effectively into an agency that helps to settle, helps to deal with illegal immigration.”

Vance said FEMA’s response to Hurricane Helene “[is] like the DMV at industrial scale” while appearing on “Fox and Friends” on Oct. 7, according to the New York Post.

During the same appearance on “Fox and Friends,” Vance claimed the “Biden-Harris administration has turned FEMA effectively into an agency that helps to settle, helps to deal with illegal immigration.”

“First of all, you have to separate what people are saying. They’ll say, ‘Well there’s a bucket of money in FEMA that’s gone to illegal aliens and that’s somehow separate than the bucket of money that should by right go to Americans. I think that misses the fundamental point, that the Biden-Harris administration has turned FEMA effectively into an agency that helps to settle, helps to deal with illegal immigration. That is just going to fundamentally distract focus from their core job of helping American citizens in their time of need,” Vance said.

Vance made the claim while answering a question from Fox News host Will Cain about conflicting reports over whether or not FEMA had given money to illegal migrants over Americans following the recent hurricane.

Newsweek reported that an apparent funding “shortfall is not the result of money going to migrants.” Funding given to the Shelter and Services Program, a partnership between FEMA and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) which offers services to “noncitizen migrants,” does not come from FEMA’s budget. The program uses funding that is not connected to FEMA’s Disaster Relief Fund.

The outlet made the distinction following comments from Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, who said that “FEMA did not have enough money to make it through hurricane season.” Despite these comments, Mayorkas said FEMA has the necessary resources to respond to Hurricane Milton, The Hill reported. (RELATED: Fact-Checking Vance And Walz’s Exchange On Minnesota’s Abortion Law)

Alternatively, the New York Post reported that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has spent $1.4 billion on caring for migrants via FEMA programs, including the Shelter and Services Program, which was authorized in 2022. According to the New York Post, DHS spent $640.9 million this year, with the money coming “solely from the Shelter and Services Program.”

Senate Republicans, including Roger Marshall (Kansas) and Josh Hawley (Missouri), raised concerns about the Biden-Harris administration’s spending on FEMA’s border-related programs via a letter addressed to the President. In addition, Republican South Carolina Rep. Nancy Mace introduced legislation that would terminate FEMA’s Shelter and Services Program and redirect its funds to Hurricane victims, according to the Washington Examiner.

Multiple experts offered their perspectives on Vance’s claim with Check Your Fact.

David J. Bier, director of immigration studies at the libertarian Cato Institute, said the claim “Congress appropriated this money and has done so to some extent since 2019.”

‘Saying it was something that Biden-Harris have done alone or even primarily isn’t accurate. The migrant money is a small percentage of total FEMA spending, and it added resources to the agency, rather than take away resources. That doesn’t mean it was a good idea,” Bier said.

“This support has received bipartisan support,” he added, directing Check Your Fact to an October 2019 article from the El Paso Times, which reported that the state of Texas had received a $2.9 million reimbursement for migrant care at the time.

Simon Hankinson, senior research fellow in the Border Security and Immigration Center at the conservative Heritage Foundation, said “FEMA’s main disaster budget, the Disaster Relief and Flood Insurance program, wasn’t used to transport, house, or service illegal immigrants.”

“But other FEMA grant money, unlike DRF programs, doesn’t require the president to declare a disaster. Through these grants, they can siphon off money clearly intended for disaster-struck American citizens and legal residents to use for facilitating mass illegal migration,” Hankinson said.

“FEMA grants through its Shelter and Services Program do go to ‘local governments and nonprofits to take care of undocumented immigrants.’ Congress authorized $360 million in FY 2023 and $650 million in FY 2024 for these grants. This money is used to pay for hotels, food, and plane/bus/train tickets to move illegal immigrants off the border to places like Charleroi, PA or Springfield, OH. DHS, in its FY 2024 budget, asked for a directly appropriated $83.5 million for Shelter and Services Program grants to ‘nonprofits and local entities to provide support to noncitizens released from DHS custody,’” Hankinson said.

“The bottom line is that FEMA grants are meant to help taxpaying Americans prepare for and cope with hurricanes, fires and floods, but the Biden administration has used some to pay activist NGOs and ‘sanctuary’ cities to settle illegal immigrants in the United States. So Vance is right,” he added.

Michelle Mittelstadt, director of communications at the liberal Migration Policy Institute, said FEMA does not provide “immigration-related assistance” to “individual immigrants.”

“Congress created the Shelter and Services Program (SSP), which is the dedicated fund through which FEMA reimburses state and local governments and NGOs for some of their costs related to shelter and services for migrants after their release from DHS. The program was created by Congress in the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023, replacing the earlier Emergency Food and Shelter Program, which was created by Congress in 1987 as part of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act of 1987.”

“For decades, FEMA has had a role in disbursing immigration-related assistance — which goes to state and local governments and NGOs, not individual immigrants — and has done so at the direction of Congress,” Mittlestadt explained.

Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, senior fellow at the liberal American Immigration Council, said in an email to Check Your Fact that “there is no truth” to claims “that FEMA has diverted any disaster relief spending to migration, that FEMA is ‘resettling’ migrants, that FEMA is dealing with illegal immigration, or that the Biden administration is responsible for FEMA’s work in this area.”

He further added:

“Since 2019, Congress has in five separate laws appropriated a limited amount of funding for FEMA to administer a reimbursement program for local communities to get back some of the costs they have incurred in providing emergency sheltering services to migrants released by the Department of Homeland Security. This funding has been supported on a bipartisan basis. For example, in 2019, when Congress first created this reimbursement program, Texas GOP Senator John Cornyn stated that ‘since they’ve had to fill a role traditionally held by the federal government during this humanitarian crisis, I’m pleased border communities and the non-profits that serve them are receiving reimbursement for their expenses.’”

FEMA does not direct how any community responds to migration or create any migration-related policy. Neither does it provide any funding to migrants themselves. The reimbursement funds have gone to communities across the nation in the states of Arizona, California, Colorado, the District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Pennsylvania, and Texas.”

A White House spokesperson shared an Oct. 4 memorandum with Check Your Fact that refuted “[s]ome Republican leaders and their partners in rightwing media” claims about FEMA.

“Their latest missive: baselessly claiming that FEMA is out of money to respond to Hurricane Helene – because of an existing program that supports cities and towns that are sheltering migrants,” the memo reads in part, adding, “This is FALSE.”

The memo does state that “funding for communities to support migrants” is “administrated by FEMA” though notes that it is not related to disaster efforts.

“No disaster relief funding at all was used to support migrants housing and services. None. At. All…In fact, the funding for communities to support migrants is directly appropriated by Congress to CBP, and is merely administered by FEMA. The funding is in no way related to FEMA’s response and recovery efforts,” the memo reads.

“FEMA has the funds it needs for immediate response and recovery efforts for Hurricane Helene. In fact, FEMA has been able to provide over $45 million in direct financial assistance to individuals and families affected by Hurricane Helene, including over $17 million to those recovering and rebuilding in North Carolina,” the memo reads.

Check Your Fact has also contacted Trump and Harris spokespersons for comment.