FEMA offers states millions for ICE detention facilities, using money meant to help migrants

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2 days ago

The Federal Emergency Management Agency is preparing to provide states with $608 million in grants to expand immigration detention facilities across the country.
FEMA has begun a 'detention support grant program' to assist states with funding the construction of detention facilities that can be utilized by the federal government to detain immigrants arrested under President Donald Trump's immigration crackdown. States have up through Aug. 8 to apply for the program.
The story was first reported by Reuters, which stated that the new FEMA grant will use funding from the Shelter and Services program, which was launched in December 2022 amidst the mass arrival of immigrants at the southern border.
The FEMA program had $800 million in available funding. The program reimbursed local governments, counties and non-profits for the costs of meeting the needs of immigrants arriving at the border and not place the burden on taxpayers.
U.S. Rep. Veronica Escobar, D-El Paso, was one of the key advocates for the program.
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The SSP funding has already been diverted to help supplement the operation costs of the the Florida Everglades immigration detention facility, dubbed Alligator Alcatraz by the Trump administration. Department of Homeland Security Kristi Noem has stated that the everglade detention center is a model for others constructed by state governments, a press officer for FEMA said.
The shifting of funding shelters to funding detention is part of the Trump administration's efforts to rollback all the programs that were meant to assist migrants arriving at the border.
"Using SSP funding for immigration detention is illegal and something the administration clearly understands given how it repeatedly refers to holding immigrants in detention as 'sheltering aliens' throughout its public listing for this new program," Jorge Loweree, the Director of Policy at the American Immigration Council, said. "Reallocating SSP funding isn't so much about expanding detention as it is about the administration's obsession with continuing to do everything possible to either end or undermine all prior efforts to make our system fair, functional, or just."
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Rolling back Shelter and Services Program
El Paso County, the city and local charities benefited from the FEMA program, guaranteeing that migrants were not left on the streets after being released by Border Patrol. The funds allowed the city to buy the Morehead elementary school and allowed the county to open and operate the Migrant Support Services Center.
The county's service center closed on Dec. 31, 2024 amidst uncertainty over the future of the SSP funding.
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FEMA began blocking the reimbursement of funds to charities and local governments in March, including in El Paso, stating that the use of the funds to support migrants likely broke the law. The funds were frozen until recipients shared the names and addresses of the people who were served with the funding.
The Trump administration officially canceled the contacts in early April.
The number of migrants currently arriving at the southern border are at the lowest levels in decades.
Jeff Abbott covers the border for the El Paso Times and can be reached at:[e-mail];@palabrasdeabajo on Twitter or @palabrasdeabajo.bsky.social on Bluesky.
This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: FEMA offering states millions to build immigration detention facilities
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