Doge boss Musk says US paid $59 mn last week to house illegal migrants in NYC luxury hotels

The US government has spent millions of dollars to house illegal immigrants in New York City’s luxury hotels, Doge’s Elon Musk has claimed.

The Tesla CEO is leading the front in cutting down government spending as he heads the Department of Government Efficiency. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the US government’s disaster relief agency, has been Musk’s latest target who has vowed to identify areas in which “waste” within the administration can be slashed.

In a post on X, Musk said, “The DOGE team just discovered that FEMA sent $59M LAST WEEK to luxury hotels in New York City to house illegal migrants. Sending this money violated the law and is in gross insubordination to the President’s executive order."

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The @DOGE team just discovered that FEMA sent $59M LAST WEEK to luxury hotels in New York City to house illegal migrants.

Sending this money violated the law and is in gross insubordination to the President’s executive order.

That money is meant for American disaster relief…

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 10, 2025

Under former President Biden, FEMA faced criticism when reports emerged that, despite a shortage of funds for Hurricane Helene victims, it was distributing money that ultimately went toward assisting illegal immigrants.

What has Doge found?

According to a report by Fox News, a New York City Hall spokesperson said that the city had received funds “through the past week” that were used by the erstwhile Biden administration for housing and supporting illegal immigrants.

Out of the $59.3 million, $19 million covered direct hotel expenses, while the remaining amount was allocated for services like food and security. NY City Hall clarified that these funds were not sourced from a disaster relief grant.

‘People will be held accountable’

“As Secretary Noem said yesterday, we must get rid of FEMA the way it exists today. This is yet another egregious example,” the Department of Homeland Security said in a statement to the news outlet.

It added, " “Individuals who circumvented leadership and unilaterally made this payment will be fired and held accountable.”