What Role Did Kraninger Play in Transfer of Nearly $10 Million from FEMA to ICE? Don’t Take Her Word for It.
Kraninger and White House Refuse to Release Records About Her Involvement in Administration’s Family Separation Immigration Policy and Response to Crisis in Puerto Rico Following Hurricane Maria – Documents Being Withheld Could Shed Light on Her Unsupported Assertion That She Didn’t “Personally Review” The Transfer of Funds from FEMA to ICE
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR) revealed this week that President Trump’s Department of Homeland Security (DHS) transferred nearly $10 million from the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) budget to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) right at the beginning of the busy hurricane season.
Kathy Kraninger, Trump’s pick to lead the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), has been tied to the funding of the administration’s reprehensible family separation immigration policy and its disastrous response to the crisis in Puerto Rico following Hurricane Maria which reportedly contributed to a staggering 3,000 deaths. To date, Kraninger and the White House have refused to release documents related to her role on these issues to Senators or groups that have filed public records requests. Allied Progress is currently in litigation on the subject.
Though Kraninger claims in her answers to written questions from Senators that she didn’t “personally review” the DHS funding transfer request since it was submitted to Congress after she was nominated, there is no way of knowing if she is being truthful because important documents are being withheld. Kraninger’s reason for not reviewing the request is rather odd. She is still an employee of the Office of Management and Budget. Are we to believe she has stopped doing the work taxpayers have been footing the bill for since June?
“What is Kathy Kraninger and the White House hiding? We know she was tied to Trump’s reprehensible family separation immigration policy and his disastrous response to the crisis in Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria. We have no way of knowing if she is being truthful about her involvement in the transfer of nearly $10 million from FEMA to ICE because she has refused to come clean about her record,” said Karl Frisch, executive director of Allied Progress.
He continued, “Ms. Kraninger and the White House have demonstrated nothing but contempt for the confirmation process in their refusal to release documents necessary for understanding her record on these and other important issues. Until they do the right thing and begin providing documents to Senators and groups who have requested them, there is no reason we should trust Kraninger’s denial.”
“Also, if Kraninger is telling the truth and she did not personally review the request for the transfer of funds from FEMA to ICE because she stopped doing her work after being nominated by President Trump, what has she been doing since she June? Are taxpayers continuing to bankroll the $170,000 salary of someone who is no longer doing the work for which they are being paid?” he continued.
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:
Kraninger Denies She Played A Role in Reviewing the Transfer of Funds from FEMA to ICE
Just Before Hurricane Season 2018, Trump’s DHS Submitted a Reprogramming Request transferring $10 Million From FEMA To ICE…[Nidhi Prakash, “The Trump Administration Transferred Millions Of Dollars From FEMA To ICE Ahead Of Hurricane Season,” Buzzfeed News, 09/12/18]
Although She Admits Participating In “Meetings On Immigration And Border Security,” Kathy Kraninger Claims She Did Not Personally Review The DHS Reprogramming Request…[“Questions for Ms. Kathleen Laura Kraninger,” US Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, 07/19/18]
But She Admits Playing A Key Role in Funding Decisions for Trump’s Immigration and Hurricane Relief Policies
As Associate Director at OMB Covering the Department of Homeland Security, Kraninger Helps Allocate Resources for Immigration and Hurricane Relief Issues. [Kate Berry, “CFPB nominee likely connected to Trump’s ‘zero-tolerance’ immigration policy,” American Banker, 09/12/18;“Questions for Ms. Kathleen Laura Kraninger,” US Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, 07/19/18]
Despite Her Lengthy Record Funding the Trump Administration’s Priorities, Kraninger Refuses to Explain That Work to The American People
Kraninger Has a Long, Public History of Working on the Trump Administration’s Immigration Policy…
Kathy Kraninger’s Fingerprints Are Likely All Over the Trump Administration’s Family Separation Policy. [Kate Berry, “CFPB nominee likely connected to Trump’s ‘zero-tolerance’ immigration policy,“ American Banker, 06/19/18]
At OMB, Kathy Kraninger Worked on President Trump’s 2019 Budget, Which Increased Funding for Immigrant Detention Facilities. [EFFICIENT, EFFECTIVE, ACCOUNTABLE AN AMERICAN BUDGET, Office of Management and Budget and “Budget-in-Brief: Fiscal Year 2019 – Homeland Security,”DHS.gov, accessed 06/21/18]
Earlier This Year, Kathy Kraninger Appears to Have Met with One of The Largest Operators of Private ICE Detention Facilities in The Country. [US Office of Management and Budget WAVES Records Release, US Office of Management and Budget, February 2018]
GEO Group Takes “In Millions of Dollars from ICE to Detain People Awaiting Immigration or Asylum Hearings.”[Madison Pauly, “Trump’s Immigration Crackdown Is a Boom Time for Private Prisons,” Mother Jones, May/June 2018]
In 2017, GEO Group Was Linked to An Effort in Texas to “Allow Immigration Detention Centers to Obtain Child Care Licenses.”[Mirren Gidda, “PRIVATE PRISON COMPANY GEO GROUP GAVE GENEROUSLY TO TRUMP AND NOW HAS LUCRATIVE CONTRACT,” Newsweek, 05/11/17]
…But Refuses to Reveal Any Details About That Work to The American People.
Kathy Kraninger Told the Senate She Has No Authority to Produce Documents Concerning Her Role in Hurricane Relief Efforts.[“Questions for Ms. Kathleen Laura Kraninger,” US Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, 07/19/18]
Kathy Kraninger Told the Senate She Has No Authority to Produce Documents Concerning Her Role in Trump’s “Zero-Tolerance” Immigration Policy.[“Questions for Ms. Kathleen Laura Kraninger,” US Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, 07/19/18]
- Senate Democrats Asked for Documents on Kraninger’s Tenure in June And Received Nothing in Advance of Her Confirmation Hearing Before the Senate Banking Committee. [“Questions for Ms. Kathleen Laura Kraninger,” US Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, 07/19/18]
Allied Progress Has Had to Go to Court to Try to Compel the Trump Administration to Release Records on Kathy Kraninger. [Merle, Renae, “Advocacy group sues for CFPB nominee’s work records,” Washington Post, 07/25/18]
How Can We Trust That Kathy Kraninger Is Telling Us the Truth?
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