(Headline USA) Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas spent barely six hours in North Carolina’s hurricane-ravaged communities this week before heading back to Washington, D.C., to dine at a ritzy sushi restaurant.
Mayorkas visited North Carolina on Thursday and delivered an update that afternoon on the federal government’s response to Hurricane Helene. He insisted that the Biden administration “made it clear we will be there for every impacted community, every step of the way.”
I am on the ground in North Carolina today speaking firsthand with our @FEMA personnel on our relief and recovery efforts in the state following #Helene’s damage and devastation. pic.twitter.com/1bLKQLdRt5
— Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas (@SecMayorkas) October 10, 2024
Directly after his address, Mayorkas jetted back to D.C., where a photographer for the New York Post snapped a shot of him leaving Nobu carrying several to-go bags at around 5:15 p.m.
The report comes just weeks after Mayorkas was caught shoe-shopping right after Hurricane Helene made landfall and devastated communities across Florida, North Carolina, and Tennessee.
Mayorkas has come under fire over his department’s response to the hurricane, and to its management of funds.
Shortly after Hurricane Helene landed, Mayorkas claimed FEMA, which handles emergency crises for DHS, was running out of funds to help impacted communities.
“We are meeting the immediate needs with the money that we have,” Mayorkas admitted.
“We are expecting another hurricane hitting,” he continued. “We do not have the funds. FEMA does not have the funds to make it through the season and what— what is imminent.”
But as Republicans noted, FEMA had plenty of funds allocated to other priorities, such as aiding illegal immigrants.
“The real story here is that the Biden-Harris administration has spurned the interests of the American people since day one, pushing for hundreds of millions of FEMA dollars every year, specifically for illegal immigrants,” House Homeland Security Chair Mark Green, R-Tenn., said at the time.
Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., argued Republicans needed to get serious about impeaching Mayorkas.
“Already voted to impeach [Mayorkas] once,” she wrote on X. “Who thinks we need to do it again?”
Already voted to impeach @SecMayorkas once.
Who thinks we need to do it again?
— Rep. Nancy Mace (@RepNancyMace) October 4, 2024
