The city of Madison, Wisconsin, appears to have found a rather creative way to use its allotment of COVID-19 funds. The local government has reportedly been funneling the money to illegal immigrants and asylum seekers, a move that is expressly forbidden in the American Rescue Plan.
Republican State Sen. Duey Stroebel sounded the alarm on the misuse of funds and is currently seeking answers from the city’s leadership.
Wisconsin state Senator Duey Stroebel, R-Cederberg, sounded the alarm Thursday after learning of a decision in the state’s capital to aid migrants with pandemic relief funds.
The City of Madison, State Sen. Stroebel wrote in a press release, is diverting State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds (SLFRF) to aid asylum seekers arriving in the city. These funds were issued through the American Rescue Plan to help state and local governments through the COVID-19 pandemic.
Madison is aware asylum seekers arriving in the city can’t receive direct government assistance funds and is therefore using SLRF “as a way around the system,” the senator wrote. Taking to X, he explained these funds can be used to pay utility bills and buy gas and food for migrants.
“Communities around this country are grappling with the consequences of the open border policies of the Biden/Harris administration,” State Sen. Stroebel wrote. “The decision to use pandemic relief money to assist illegal immigrants at the expense of Wisconsinites reveals the out of touch priorities of Madison politicians.”
Per Madison’s Q4 report, pandemic funding could be used to pay for utility bills, gas cards, and more.
It’s insane that, at a time when Wisconsinites are struggling to keep up with inflation, that taxpayer dollars are being used to help illegal immigrants pay their bills. pic.twitter.com/fqWoHkPjR1
— Duey Stroebel (@SenStroebel) April 4, 2024
And exactly how much has Madison given to illegals and asylum seekers?
A whopping $700,000 from its State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds (SLFRF). It represents almost 10 percent of the city’s SLFRF grant funds, which have been given to nonprofits providing services to those who came across the border. This money was originally aimed at aiding the recovery from the pandemic.
Stroebel called out the city’s leadership for using the relief funds to assist illegal immigrants “at the expense of Wisconsinites” and referred to the move as “the out of touch priorities of Madison politicians.”
The senator penned a letter to supervisor Dory Rey, asking for an explanation for the misuse of funds. He wrote:
In this 4th quarter report, the City of Madison approved a $700,000 budget for ‘Services to Residents who are Undocumented.’ This earmark for illegal immigrants is alarming since you point out these individuals would normally be ‘ineligible’ for ‘direct assistance’ in many cases.”
Stroebel demanded that Rey provide information related to the grant applications received by the city and “a breakdown of what the $700,000 of grants were used for.”
This development comes as the crisis at the southern border continues to persist. Scores of illegal immigrants and asylum seekers are still entering the country and winding up in major cities all across the country.
