The U.S. Department of Homeland Security is temporarily withholding payments to governments and organizations that assist migrants, including in El Paso, stating in a March 11 letter that it has “significant concerns” funding is going to entities “engaged in or facilitating illegal activities.”
The letters from DHS and the Federal Emergency Management Agency state reimbursement funding will be temporarily withheld pending a 30-day deadline for the entities to provide names and contact information of those who were assisted, detailed lists and proof of services provided, and written statements if the information was already submitted.
It also asks entities to sign an affidavit stating they have not participated in any immigration-related crime, stating more details on the requirement will be forthcoming.
The letters state DHS is concerned that entities receiving payment under FEMA’s Shelter and Services Program may be guilty of “encouraging or inducing an alien to come to, enter, or reside in the United States in violation of law, transporting or moving illegal aliens.”
“The Trump administration’s decision to not only revoke such funding, but accuse organizations of facilitating so-called illegal activities, is not just outrageous and offensive, but is unfortunately consistent with his past practice of targeting border communities,” U.S. Rep. Veronica Escobar, D-El Paso, said in a statement to El Paso Matters.
Escobar helped establish the program in 2022 in response to the government’s request and to ensure local tax dollars were not used to manage a federal responsibility. The SSP funding reimburses expenses incurred by local governments and nongovernmental organizations that provide food, shelter and other services to migrants who arrive in their communities.
“In an effort to ensure humanitarian treatment of individuals processed by CBP, the federal government asked local governments and NGOs for help,” Escobar said. “And it wasn’t just the Biden administration that asked for this help, but during Donald Trump’s first term, CBP also coordinated with local NGOs and communities for help.”
Read More
The Trump administration says it’s targeting criminals for deportation. ICE arrested these 2 Las Cruces teens as they headed to work.
The apprehension by Immigration and Customs Enforcement of a brother and sister with pending asylum applications raises questions about the Trump administration’s mass deportation efforts, human rights advocates say.
El Paso-area nonprofits, as well as the city and county governments, were granted a total of about $26 million in SSP funding last fiscal year, with $21 million of that going to the county government, according to FEMA records. Some of those nonprofits include the El Pasoans Fighting Hunger, Annunciation House, the Salvation Army and El Paso Baptist Association.
FEMA has not responded to an El Paso Matters request for comment.
“We just simply don’t know what our response is going to be at this point,” said John Martin, executive director of the El Paso Opportunity Center for the Homeless.
Martin said the center was awarded about $520,000, but only used about $7,000.
He said the information being requested is largely what has been submitted, but thinks asking for migrants’ contact information is more intrusive. He said his team will also be reviewing how to respond to the affidavit request.
The grants were reimbursements to local governments and nonprofits for money they spent assisting migrants who had been processed by federal immigration officers. The funding amount was set in late 2023, but the number of migrants began decreasing sharply in 2024 as the Biden administration sharply restricted access to asylum, and Mexico increased its migrant interdiction efforts.
As a result, much of the potential grant money was never accessed by local governments and nonprofits.
“We never submitted anything for reimbursement under this particular grant,” said Betsy Keller, chief administrator for the county.
The county shut down its migrant services center at the end of 2024 in anticipation that FEMA
would not be giving up-front funding for services with the new presidential administration taking office. The center helped coordinate travel for asylum seekers directly released by federal law enforcement agencies and who had funds to pay their own way.
Keller said the county opened the center in 2022 in response to a direct request for help from Border Patrol, which at the time was having to release migrants they had processed to the streets as shelters were overcrowded
“We worked hand in hand with Border Patrol to set this up. So I think that’s something that I wish the administration would not lose sight of,” Keller said.
See Also
Order that Estrella del Paso stop helping unaccompanied migrant children rescinded
Formerly El Paso Diocesan Migrant and Refugee Services, the organization has about 2,000 open cases involving unaccompanied migrant children across West Texas and New Mexico.
President Donald Trump took office in January with simultaneous executive orders cracking down on immigration and promising mass deportations. Trump also issued an executive order that was promptly rescinded, pausing billions in federal grant funding for an array of programs that went against his ideology.
The city didn’t receive the DHS letter, city spokesperson Laura Cruz-Acosta said in an emailed statement to El Paso Matters. The city was allocated about $2 million.
“Due to policy changes at the federal level, this does not impact the city, as we are currently not experiencing the migrant surges seen in previous years and therefore we are not providing migrant support,” Cruz-Acosta said.
Related
How state lawmakers are trying to crack down on illegal immigration
From requiring law enforcement agencies to cooperate with federal officials to forcing state contractors to use E-Verify to spot undocumented workers, here are the bills that could reshape the state’s immigration policies.
Susan Goodell, CEO of El Pasoans Fighting Hunger, said the food bank has not used federal funds to feed migrants, but will respond to the letter.
“It’s kind of scary to get a letter like that from the government, and I don’t think that we have anything to fear in that we didn’t use those funds. So it’s kind of a moot point, but we have done a lot of work with the migrants,” she said. “Morally, food banks believe that people deserve food and water because they’re human beings, regardless of their circumstances.”
She said the organization opted to use private funds to provide food to migrants after a rule was put in place that required the reporting of “alien numbers” – identification numbers assigned to migrants by federal immigration agencies to track them and their asylum applications.
“We made the decision not to put human beings through that, where they had to fear that they wouldn’t get food and water to survive,” Goodell said. “So we did not collect the ‘A numbers,’ nor did we use any government funds for that purpose of taking care of the migrants.”
The food bank was allocated about $823,000, though it was not used by the organization.
This week’s letter raises concerns about future clawbacks for prior grants that were used by local governments and nonprofits.
The letter states that noncompliance may be determined “Throughout the award lifecycle or even after an award has been closed, DHS/FEMA may discover potential or actual noncompliance on the part of a recipient or subrecipient.”
Martin said he’s considered that other prior grants may be targeted, but did not go into further detail.
“I’m afraid that then they’ll say, ‘Oh, well, now let’s look at this next program,’” Keller said of other federal funding the county has received. “There’s no funds to claw back from SSP, but the letter makes threats of withholding other money and the county does receive funding through other grants.”
Governments and organizations have the right to appeal the request within 60 days, according to the DHS letter.
This is not the first time area nonprofits that serve migrant populations are targeted.
In February 2024, the Texas Attorney General Office served Annunciation House with a request to examine its operational records, attempting to shut it down by alleging its migrant shelters harbor undocumented immigrants. The case is now with the Texas Supreme Court.
In September, the state’s AG office served Las Americas Immigrant Advocacy Center with a civil investigation, demanding it produce client paperwork and other documents related to a federal parole program.
Disclaimer: El Paso Matters CEO Robert Moore is the board chairperson for El Pasoans Fighting Hunger Food Bank.
The post Alleging ‘illegal activities,’ FEMA withholds funds to El Paso groups providing migrant aid appeared first on El Paso Matters.
Read: Read More