The Federal Emergency Administration Company (FEMA) clawed again $80 million it gave to New York Metropolis to deal with migrants because the Trump administration seeks to crack down on this system.
Metropolis officers, who mentioned they found the revocation Wednesday, are threatening authorized motion as FEMA raises considerations that the grants had been presumably funding “illegal activity.”
“I have clawed back the full payment that FEMA deep state activists unilaterally gave to NYC migrant hotels,” Secretary of Homeland Safety Kristi Noem wrote on X.
“FEMA was funding the Roosevelt Hotel that serves as a Tren de Aragua base of operations and was used to house Laken Riley’s killer. Mark my words: there will not be a single penny spent that goes against the interest and safety of the American people,” Noem continued.
The brand new administration, together with Elon Musk’s Division of Authorities Effectivity (DOGE), has regarded to implement varied freezes on federal funding. Musk has singled out the migrant housing grants particularly, writing on X that it “violated the law and is in gross insubordination to the President’s executive order.”
The administration’s plans to freeze federal funding have rapidly drawn authorized challenges. A decide blocked an across-the-board pause and later mentioned the Trump administration was failing to adjust to the courtroom’s order.
However these rulings nonetheless allow companies to restrict funding entry primarily based on authority from relevant statutes. With that exception, the administration has argued it may well pause the FEMA migrant housing grants.
“As of today, the Department has paused funding to the Shelter and Services Program based on significant concerns that the funding is going to entities engaged in or facilitating illegal activities,” Cameron Hamilton, who’s performing the duties of FEMA administrator, wrote in a sworn declaration.
The federal government went as far to ask the decide Tuesday to make clear that pausing the fund could be allowed beneath his order, however given the federal government’s rationale, the decide mentioned he “sees no want.”
However New York Metropolis’s comptroller, Brad Lander, in an announcement Wednesday claimed the $80 million revocation was “illegally executed” as a result of Congress already appropriated the funding.
Lander went on to assault New York Metropolis Mayor Eric Adams (D) for cozying up with Trump. A day earlier, Trump’s Justice Division directed prosecutors to drop Adams’ legal costs.
“New York City cannot take this lying down,” Lander mentioned. “I call on the Mayor to immediately pursue legal action to ensure the tens of millions of dollars stolen by Trump and DOGE are rightfully returned. If instead Mayor Adams continues to be President Trump’s pawn, my Office will request to work in partnership with the New York City Law Department to pursue aggressive legal action.”
Adams, who has pledged to work with Trump on addressing immigration and different points impacting New York Metropolis, indicated assist for getting the funding again.
“While we conduct an internal investigation into how this occurred, our office has already engaged with the White House about recouping these funds and we’ve requested an emergency meeting with FEMA to try and resolve the matter as quickly as possible. The Corporation Counsel is already exploring various litigation options,” Adams wrote on X.
