FEMA workers pulled from Chicago storm damage surveys because of ICE
Source: Washington Post
Updated November 25, 2025 at 1:18 p.m. EST
In early November, Illinois and Federal Emergency Management Agency officials pulled dozens of personnel back from surveying flood-damaged neighborhoods in Chicago because immigration agents were conducting patrols nearby, according to messages reviewed by The Washington Post and four people with knowledge of the situation.
The four individuals, like others interviewed for this story, spoke on the condition of anonymity out of fear of retaliation.
The decision to halt the disaster assessment teams' work on Nov. 6 came amid an ongoing immigration crackdown in the city, leaving the coordinating state and agency officials worried that FEMA's efforts could put residents as well as the surveyors at risk. The shift meant about 10 groups of federal, state, county and local workers had to stop work surveying hundreds of homes that sustained heavy water damage in parts of the city hit hard by recent storms -- assessments that help the federal agency document disaster impacts, and can help make a case for why an area may need help paying for recovery.
Last month, the Trump administration denied the state's initial request for a disaster declaration meant to help its communities rebound from back-to-back punishing summer storms, concluding there was "insufficient severity," according to a letter obtained by The Post. Illinois then asked FEMA to conduct additional damage analysis to further document the scores of homes still recovering, many with mold and other issues, in hopes the president would reconsider. Parts of Illinois, including Cook County's Chicago, experienced severe flooding in July and again in August.
Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2025/11/25/chicago-fema-ice/
No paywall (gift)
= new reply since forum marked as read
But apparently WaPo treats theirs differently from other sites (i.e., I think they require a sign-up).
Sometimes msn will run WaPos (but not all the time) and I did just find their version of this article - https://www.msn.com/en-us/public-safety-and-emergencies/health-and-safety-alerts/fema-workers-pulled-from-chicago-storm-damage-surveys-because-of-ice/ar-AA1R8oc8
Hope that helps!
