(Radio Iowa) – Iowa Congresswoman Ashley Hinson is defending her social media comments that Americans hit by Hurricane Helene were “left in the lurch” because FEMA funding was used for illegal immigration. The Administration and FEMA have pushed back after criticism of their handling of hurricane relief, saying there is a lot of misinformation and it is confusing for people. Hinson, a Republican from Marion, says she first raised the issue five months ago during a hearing with the FEMA director before the current Hurricanes.

“These were programs that they had to prop up because of a crisis they created. And the contrast here is that I don’t think a taxpayer dollar, a single one should be spent bailing out sanctuary cities or incentivizing illegal immigration,” Hinson says. Hinson says FEMA’s mission should be clear.

“Their mission should be to singularly focus on helping American citizens. But if you roll back the tape on this, isn’t the first time that the administration has put illegals over Americans,” Hinson says. “They tried to divert resources for veterans to the southern border, trying to take doctors from the V-A and healthcare providers, and then they have diverted federal air marshals from protecting Americans on commercial flights to the southern border.”

Hinson says she has first-hand experience on these issues. “I was down at the border twice, and on one of my trips down there, they had employees helping to navigate the situation at the southern border from FEMA and from T-S-A, and those were just the ones I came into contact with on my short border tour. So Americans are tired of this administration putting illegal immigrants first while families are suffering, and that’s the intention behind my tweets,” Hinson says.

Hinson made her comments during a conference call with reporters.