RALEIGH — In recent months, videos and images of migrants boarding U.S. commercial airline flights have flooded social media.
This month, North State Journal reported on an American Airlines flight out of Arizona carrying non-U.S. citizens to Charlotte’s Douglas International Airport. Within hours of the article being posted online, a General Assembly staffer who wished to remain anonymous relayed a similar encounter at an Arizona airport while returning from a conference on Dec. 1, 2023.
Per the staffer, the individuals all appeared to have brand-new backpacks and were carrying plastic bags with what looked like “snacks.” The staffer said most of them were holding some kind of paperwork and many of them had seemingly new-looking smartphones.
The staffer also told North State Journal they spoked with a TSA official about an area that was “roped off” with a number of individuals that appeared to be of Hispanic descent. The TSA official confirmed to the staffer the individuals were all migrants who had crossed the border and were going to be sent through a special screening line.
The General Assembly staffer’s account lines up with images of signs for special migrant-only screening lines cropping up on social media platforms and as reported by Breitbart Texas.
What group or groups are funding flight activities is still unclear, but assistance is likely coming from one of hundreds of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and nonprofits working with migrant travel and resettlement.
Commercial airlines have indicated the tickets for the flights are arranged and paid for by an NGO or a nonprofit that is working with migrants. A commercial airline company gave similar information to North State Journal.
Most of these organizations are receiving millions, and sometimes billions, in related taxpayer-funded grants through various programs under federal agencies such as the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) or the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). The grants can pay for a wide variety of things for a migrant, including clothes, cell phones, food, shelter, and transportation as well as legal services that specifically serve migrants.
According to the immigration watchdog group Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), DHS was estimated to be providing “$363.8 million of taxpayer dollars” through programs giving grants in Fiscal Year 2023 to NGOs and nonprofits to handle migrant arrivals. FAIR also noted that “it’s unclear how the money is actually spent by the NGOs and local governments.”
Some of the largest entities involved in migrant travel and facilitations are the American Red Cross, Church World Services, and Catholic Charities USA.
The American Red Cross works with various federally funded migrant programs, including the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) Food and Shelter Program. That program received $350 million from DHS in February 2023.
In its 2022 financial statements, Church World Services reported over 76% of its revenue, more than $114.6 million, was from “government support.” For that same year, Catholic Charities USA posted $4.7 billion in total revenue, including $1.4 billion in government grants and $1 billion in private donations.
In North Carolina, there are dozens of nonprofits working with migrants. Church World Services operates chapters in multiple cities such as Charlotte, Durham, Greensboro and Wilmington.
Church World Services chapters in North Carolina run an “NC-Immigrant Solidarity Fund,” described as a “statewide, grassroots effort to support undocumented and mixed status families facing financial hardship due to a recent ICE detention & deportation, emergency, or natural disaster.”
https://nsjonline.com/article/2024/01/how-are-non-u-s-citizen-migrants-traveling-across-the-country/