A new report concerning the aftermath of the August 2023 Lahaina, Hawaii, fires has ignited fierce criticism of the Biden Administration’s handling of the disaster, with a statement from an entity identifying as the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) highlighting claims of severe survivor hardship and exploitation.
The report, attributed to the Filipino-Hawaiian advocacy group Tagnawa, alleges that conditions for survivors were “appalling and inhumane.”
Among its most shocking assertions is that one in six survivors was allegedly forced to engage in sexual acts in exchange for basic necessities such as food and housing. The Tagnawa report also claims that some women felt compelled to sleep in their cars due to safety concerns in FEMA-coordinated shelters.
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In a statement, DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin condemned the findings, characterizing the situation as “FEMA’s horrific neglect and mismanagement under the Biden Administration.”
“1 in 6 survivors of the Lahaina Fires were forced to engage in sexual acts in exchange for basic necessities like food and housing,” McLaughlin stated. “These women — our fellow American citizens — were so desperate for food that they had to resort to such extreme measures just to feed themselves in our own country. That’s unacceptable. That is un-American.”
McLaughlin’s statement further accused the Biden Administration and Homeland Security Secretary Mayorkas of misallocating FEMA funds.
“While American citizens from Hawaii to North Carolina suffered, Biden and Mayorkas used FEMA as a piggy bank, spending hundreds of millions of American taxpayer dollars to housing illegal aliens, including at the Roosevelt Hotel that served as a Tren de Aragua base of operations and was used to shelter Laken Riley’s killer,” she alleged.
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The statement described these issues as “yet another outrageous example of the gross mismanagement and poor treatment of Americans under the prior administration,” and concluded with an assurance that, “This will never happen again under the leadership of President Trump and Secretary Noem.”
The Tagnawa report and the subsequent condemnation are likely to fuel further debate over the federal government’s disaster response capabilities and priorities.
The direct allegations of exploitation and the severe conditions described paint a grim picture of the challenges faced by Lahaina residents attempting to rebuild their lives.
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