Border crisis charities are reportedly using large government grants to fund music therapy, human-plant interactions and high salaries for staff, according to a report published by the Free Press on Monday.
NGOs that receive funding from the Unaccompanied Children Program and operate shelters in Texas, Arizona and California are accused of profiting from these contracts, the Free Press reported . report. Based on federal disclosure documents, the combined revenue of the top three NGOs, Global Refuge, Southwest Key Programs, and Endeavors, Inc., will increase from $597 million in 2019 to $2 billion by 2022. There was a sudden increase in
The Free Press revealed that Endeavors reportedly uses taxpayer funds for a variety of therapeutic activities for immigrant children, including pet therapy, horticultural therapy and music therapy. In 2021, the organization reportedly compensated music therapist Christy Merrell $533,000.Internal presentation given by Endeavors public America First Legal’s research revealed that from April 2021 to March 2023, there were 1,656 interactions involving plants and 287 pet therapy sessions.
Nonprofits are making billions of dollars through the border crisis. @Maddie_Rowley_ It examines how the federally funded resettlement of migrant children became a gold mine for a small number of NGOs and their leaders. 🧵 pic.twitter.com/yXnV5wfnBd
— Free Press (@TheFP) May 13, 2024
The CEOs of these nonprofits reportedly earn more than $500,000 a year, and the CEO of Southwest Key reportedly receives more than $1 million.
Charles Marino, a former adviser to Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano in the Obama administration, said of NGOs, “The amount of taxpayer money they are receiving is obscene,” according to the paper. “The waste, fraud, and abuse of taxpayer money will rival what we have seen with federal coronavirus funding.”
The Administration for Children and Families, a division of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, allocates funds to various nonprofit organizations through the Office of Refugee Resettlement, the Free Press said. As the immigration crisis intensifies, ORR funding has skyrocketed, increasing from $1.8 billion in 2018 to $6.3 billion in 2023. Projections suggest spending this year will reach at least $7.3 billion, with the majority going to NGOs and contractors. (Related article: Field report claims migrants are being secretly flown into Tennessee in the middle of the night. Republican lawmakers want answers)
Border charities spend millions of taxpayer dollars on music therapy, ‘human-plant exchanges’ and huge salaries: report https://t.co/fEvZkkPYzU pic.twitter.com/phaswz5xx3
— New York Post (@nypost) May 13, 2024
Jessica Vaughan, director of policy research at the Center for Immigration Studies, criticized the government’s handling of public funds, pointing to a lack of accountability and disinterest in effectively addressing the problem, the newspaper reported. . Under legal obligations, the Office of Refugee Resettlement must wait until an unaccompanied minor who does not have legal immigration status reaches the age of 18 or can find a guardian, such as a parent or next of kin, in the United States. housing must be provided until then. The agency primarily works with immigrant teens who have entered the United States. The United States crosses the Mexican border alone.
“What’s new under the Biden administration is the amount of taxpayer dollars being given away, the lack of accountability for performance, and the lack of interest in solving problems,” Vaughn said, according to the Free Press.
