The Trump administration’s immigration crackdown efforts have begun interfering directly with frontline responders of recent disasters – raising substantial fears about what could happen when more serious disasters strike.

On August 27, the Seattle Times reported that two firefighter crews deployed to fight the Bear Gulch fire on the Olympic Peninsula were held by Border Patrol agents, and two firefighters were eventually arrested after being accused of living in the country illegally. As the Times reported in what must be the most incredible understatement of the year, “It is unusual for federal border agents to make arrests during the fighting of an active fire, especially in a remote area.” The move is baffling, as it is pretty well known that nationwide, recruiting and retaining wildland firefighters has been an ongoing challenge. This issue, highlighted by the Government Accountability Office, stems from factors such as low wages, poor work/life balance, mental health challenges, and a lack of workforce diversity. The situation is so dire that California uses incarcerated labor. The recent arrests are likely to exacerbate the problem significantly. The administration is now prioritizing statistics, like the number of undocumented immigrants caught in Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) sweeps, over the country’s ability to combat destructive fires. And doing that in the middle of an active fire is deadly for everyone involved.

The White House is taking other steps that clearly prioritizing immigration detention over disaster relief. The Washington Post reported on the same day of the ICE raid in Washington state that new Department of Homeland Security contracts for aid organizations responding to disasters require these organizations to act as agents of ICE. The latest Fiscal Year 2025 DHS Standard Terms and Conditions for grants, cooperative agreements, fixed-amount awards, and financial assistance now includes a “Communication and Cooperation with the Department of Homeland Security and Immigration Officials” section. Within that section, recipients are required to share information, assist in immigration operations (including temporarily detaining people), provide access to information on disaster survivors, and maintain confidentiality around ICE operations. To be clear, this means that if an organization such as the Red Cross receives federal funding to set up a temporary shelter for evacuees, they are required to identify undocumented immigrants, detain them, and let ICE know.

There are so many logistical and ethical issues with this that it’s hard to know even where to start. Aid organizations are not equipped to meet these requirements, particularly for detaining someone.  Their core mission revolves around saving lives, not enforcing immigration law. Aid organizations, many of which are faith-based, have expressed concerns that the requirements “violate First Amendment freedoms, undermine religious neutrality, and force institutions to betray core values.” Another problem is that these requirements will deter survivors from seeking aid or services from any organization that receives DHS funding. This can be a death sentence for survivors of a disaster.

These are just two examples out of many in which the administration’s decisions at FEMA are creating a scenario in which all the worst possible things can and will go wrong simultaneously. It is a fear that is not going unnoticed inside the government. Last week, 182 current and former Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) employees addressed a letter to Trump’s FEMA Review Council and Congress stating recent decisions at the agency were putting the US at risk of another Hurricane Katrina-level disaster. Not surprisingly, the next day, about two dozen employees who had signed the letter were placed on leave. This reflects a pattern within the administration of replacing experienced and knowledgeable personnel who may disagree with policies with individuals who prioritize praising the president during meetings.

To be blunt, Trump’s interference with ongoing disaster recovery and relief efforts is dangerous. And as this pattern of politically motivated interference continues, the nation faces an escalating risk of failures in disaster response and an erosion of trust in the institutions that are supposed to keep people safe. With disasters increasing every year, lives are hanging in the balance. The US can’t afford political theater over doing what’s best for communities.

This first appeared on CEPR.

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