Biden’s ‘migrants first, Americans last’ policy
President Joe Biden’s “Put Americans Last” policy is on full display at the chemical spill disaster in Ohio.
Fearing for their lives, local residents of the small town of East Palestine, Ohio, have been forced to evacuate their homes, their eyes burning, their skin mottled with rashes, their drinking water suspect — yet the Federal Emergency Management Agency refused to help for two weeks. What a contrast to the immediate help FEMA provides when buses of illegal immigrants roll into Washington, D.C., or New York.
To assist illegal immigrants, charity workers funded by FEMA literally meet the buses and begin distributing food, hotel rooms, rental assistance, legal counsel and health care — the very things that the East Palestine victims also need. And the omnibus spending bill Biden signed in December gives FEMA a whopping $800 million expressly to pay for migrants’ needs as they arrive in U.S. cities from the southern border.
Yet Biden is giving the people of this Ohio town — working-class, taxpaying citizens who are 98% white — the cold shoulder.
On Feb. 17, 14 days after the Norfolk Southern train derailed in this small Ohio town, spewing burning vinyl chloride into the air and water, the White House tried to produce a reason why FEMA was a no-show. “FEMA is on the frontlines when there is a hurricane or tornado. This situation is different.” That is a lame lie.
Under the Stafford Act of 1988, FEMA is empowered to respond to human-made disasters, such as fires and explosions, as well as natural disasters. FEMA was envisioned to help people like East Palestine residents Audrey DeSanzo and her two school-age children.
After the train accident on Feb. 3, Gov. Mike DeWine told families to evacuate immediately or face “grave danger of death.”
The DeSanzos fled to a relative’s empty apartment in Pennsylvania. On Feb. 9, officials gave the clear for residents to return, but DeSanzo says her children quickly developed sore throats and coughs. A local doctor said many patients had these problems and advised calling poison control.
DeSanzo would like to get out of East Palestine, but she makes only $14 an hour. “Where am I supposed to go?” she asked. FEMA is footing the bill for migrants to stay in hotels, but not the DeSanzos.
Norfolk Southern is sending each family $1,000. That doesn’t cover medical bills, housing, meals and lost wages during an evacuation.
With a disaster declaration, these costs could be covered by FEMA. But the Biden administration has withheld it.
The White House claimed that it’s “mobiliz(ing) a robust, multiagency effort” for the Ohioans, including help from the Department of Health and Human Services.
HHS says it will open a clinic in cooperation with the Ohio Department of Health. It’s too little too late.
Meanwhile, recently approved a waiver for Washington State to offer illegal immigrants free health insurance for the sake of “equity.”
The people of East Palestine will tell you the odor of burning vinyl chloride is suffocating, but worse is the stench of Biden’s disdain for regular Americans.