Adding further insult to injury for Americans who have lost loved ones to the coronavirus, President Donald Trump is refusing to let FEMA provide financial aid to those struggling to come up with funeral costs.
The pandemic has killed 61,000 people in the United States and has left over 20 million unemployed, which means many American families are strapped for cash as this crisis continues and cannot afford a funeral for a family member who has died. Some families face the daunting and tragic task of having to bury multiple family members. Funeral expenses are not cheap and even something as simple as cremation can run into the thousands of dollars.
That’s why FEMA usually helps with these costs during times of disaster. The pandemic certainly qualifies as a disaster, and a majority of the states have sought such aid for families. But Trump has blocked FEMA from providing that aid.
According to ProPublica:
Approximately 30 states and territories have requested the funding as the pandemic spreads across the country and struggling families ask for help burying their dead. The funding is part of the wide array of ‘individual assistance’ programs handled by the Federal Emergency Management Agency to help disaster victims. But Trump has sharply limited what kinds of assistance FEMA can provide, and the agency has told states their requests are ‘under review’ or only agreed to pay for counseling services for their residents.”
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While the White House is blaming FEMA for the block, a FEMA representative pointed out that approval of this aid is up to Trump.
“The approval of programs in response to a disaster declaration request is made at the discretion of the President,” the spokesperson said.
In fact, Trump issued a memo that only authorizes counseling assistance and specifically barred any other assistance such as funeral aid from being dispersed
The memo states that the order “shall not be construed to encompass any authority to approve other forms of assistance.”
This order is heartless and forces Americans to rely on donations such as those garnered through GoFundMe. No one should have to beg others for money during a time of crisis when the federal government is more than capable of stepping up to provide this aid, especially since Trump’s reckless response to the pandemic is why more than 60,000 Americans are dead. Tens of thousands of lives could have been saved had Trump acted earlier. His job now is to relieve suffering as much as possible, but all he’s doing is making it worse.
Featured image via screen capture
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