A federal decide dominated Wednesday that the Trump administration can proceed efforts to withhold tens of hundreds of thousands of {dollars} meant to cowl lodge prices for migrants in New York Metropolis because the Division of Homeland Safety mentioned it’s “recouping” a $59 million cost.
U.S. District Choose John McConnell in Rhode Island dominated that the federal government’s bid to withhold Federal Emergency Administration Company cash despatched to New York to accommodate migrants was not topic to an order, nonetheless in impact, that is aimed toward stopping a sweeping Trump administration pause on federal funding.
“Because the Defendants are seeking to terminate funding ‘on the basis of the applicable authorizing statutes, regulations, and terms,’” McConnell mentioned, he “sees no need for further clarification.” He denied a movement for an emergency listening to on the problem and affirmed a short lived restraining order stopping the funding freeze.
“Secretary Noem has clawed again the total cost that FEMA deep state activists unilaterally gave to NYC migrant lodges,” a DHS spokesperson mentioned in a press release.
Gaby Acevedo studies on the brand new immigration orders President Trump signed and the way they will impact individuals within the Tri-state space.
On Monday, Elon Musk, the top of President Donald Trump’s Division of Authorities Effectivity, posted on X that his crew had found funds used to accommodate migrants in “luxury hotels” with cash supposed for catastrophe reduction. Musk and DOGE have consolidated management over a lot of the federal authorities and are working to chop prices and shrink the workforce.
On Tuesday, 4 federal staff had been fired, with Division of Homeland Safety officers saying they circumvented management to make the transactions. Such funds have been commonplace for years by way of a program that helps with prices to look after a surge in migration.
FEMA’s appearing administrator, Cameron Hamilton, mentioned in courtroom paperwork filed Tuesday that the Republican administration yanked funding from the Shelter and Companies Program due to issues the cash was “facilitating illegal activities” at a Manhattan lodge used to accommodate migrants.
New York began leasing the Roosevelt Resort as an consumption heart for homeless migrants searching for metropolis providers in 2023, after it closed within the fall of 2020 because of the coronavirus pandemic.
The Shelter and Companies Program, with cash coming from Congress and administered by FEMA, has develop into a flashpoint for criticism by Republicans, who incorrectly declare it’s taking funds from individuals hit by hurricanes or floods.
The cash is separate from the catastrophe reduction fund, which is FEMA’s major funding stream to assist individuals and governments affected by disasters.
“[President Trump is] here for a reason, and he is focused every day on implementing his administration’s goals and sending 59 million bucks to a migrant hotel to house illegal immigrants when there are still people in North Carolina and California who have not received FEMA funding,” White Home Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt mentioned in a briefing Wednesday.
Below metropolis legislation, New York should supply shelter to anybody who wants it, and on the time the common homeless shelter system was overwhelmed with new arrivals. The lodge now serves as each a spot the place migrants should go to use for providers and as a short lived shelter for tons of of households who can keep for under 60 days.
Hamilton mentioned that the federal authorities can pause or finish funds if recipients don’t abide by the phrases and that FEMA is reaching out to New York to get extra info and “ensure that federal funds are not being used for illegal activities.”
The firings and courtroom submitting come as Trump’s administration ratchets up stress on FEMA, suggesting it ought to be disbanded and cash ought to be given on to states to deal with disasters.
