Trump administration threatens groups that distributed federal aid for migrants
Source: The Guardian
Trump administration threatens groups that distributed federal aid for migrants
Fema-run program withholds funds it owes service providers and claims they may have aided ‘illegal activities’
Alexandra Villarreal in San Antonio
Thu 15 May 2025 14.00 BST
Last modified on Thu 15 May 2025 14.01 BST
The Trump administration is accusing some state authorities and non-profits of in effect smuggling or harboring migrants after they provided food and shelter for such people – even though the services were funded through federal government programs and those being helped had already been processed and released by immigration officials.
The administration has also withheld funds it owes to service providers, which spent up front to support vulnerable families recently arrived in the US, on the good faith agreement that, as is usual practice, they would be paid back by Washington.
The nation’s Shelter and Services Program (SSP) – administered by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (Fema) – was created with the explicit purpose to financially support service providers that were struggling to welcome migrants and asylum seekers who had been released from federal immigration custody.
Yet in an ominous recent letter, SSP funding recipients were told that the Trump administration was pausing further payments amid “significant concerns” that government money had gone toward institutions “engaged in or facilitating illegal activities”, with allusions to serious crimes such as transporting undocumented immigrants and shielding them from detection.
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Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/may/15/migrant-service-providers-trump-administration
Alternate link: https://www.yahoo.com/news/trump-administration-threatens-groups-distributed-130011592.html
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As usual, the FEMA official provided no evidence to support a claim of wrongdoing.