Latest news with #ShelterandServicesProgram
Miami Herald
18-07-2025
- Business
- Miami Herald
Grant money rescinded from Baltimore nonprofit could fund Alligator Alcatraz, DHS says
BALTIMORE - Funding originally awarded to a West Baltimore nonprofit food distribution and compost center will instead likely be used for a controversial Florida immigrant detention center known as the Alligator Alcatraz. A joint Instagram post from President Donald Trump and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem recently announced that the Everglades immigrant detention center would be "funded largely" with money from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Shelter and Services Program. 4MyCiTy, a West Baltimore nonprofit that offers hundreds of residents free produce and compost services, was awarded $534,869 in a reimbursement grant through the program. In April, the award was canceled. Dipnaraine said that, to try to fill the gap, he is personally supporting the organization, working on a fundraising strategy and reaching out to corporate partners and local organizations. Tackling food insecurity Thousands of Baltimore residents who live in food deserts without easy access to healthy food have depended on 4MyCiTy. The group helps address the city's longstanding food insecurity problem, which disproportionately impacts Black residents, children and the elderly. 4MyCiTy says it aims to address Baltimore's food insecurity with an environmentally focused approach, preventing food waste and uplifting the local community through mentorship programs and educational opportunities. Because 4MyCiTy thought it would be reimbursed by the federal government as initially planned, the nonprofit's leader said the organization spent some of its budget reserves. With the award canceled, founder and executive director, Christopher Dipnarine, 44, said, "now we're kind of battling to get reimbursed on the funding we've already spent." 4MyCiTy's daily operations On weekdays, food program participants wait in line with empty grocery bags before walking down a buffet of crates filled with vibrant fruits and veggies at the 4MyCiTy warehouse on Wilso Drive. Janet Bailey, 62, takes food home from the warehouse to stock her food donation fridge, a part of the Bmore Community Fridge Network, which offers food-deficient communities constant access to fresh produce. Bailey's bags overflowed with produce as she left the center a week ago. Roughly 300 people receive free fresh produce from 4MyCiTy each day. The organization collects food that would otherwise be tossed from licensed distributors and vendors, and gives it to people experiencing food insecurity. Grant terminations Under the Biden administration, The Department of Homeland Security and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) awarded 4MyCiTy hundreds of thousands of dollars in grants to support their work. The Trump administration canceled those grants, and communication from the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees FEMA grants, has been limited, Dipnarine said. Letters sent to Shelter and Services Program recipients notifying organizations that their grants had been terminated said that the grant programs "support, or have the potential to support, illegal immigration through funding illegal activities or support for illegal aliens that is not consistent with DHS's enforcement focus do not effectuate the agency's current priorities." The FEMA initiative previously arranged reimbursements for non-federal organizations supporting housing, food access, and other programs for undocumented immigrants awaiting their immigration court proceedings. Dipnarine said 4MyCity was using the money awarded in accordance with the guidelines of the grant. He said that 4MyCiTy's relationship with FEMA was positive and it partnered with the Department of Homeland Security in various ways, such as distributing items from FEMA. "When FEMA has excess merchandise that they cannot give out, like, just last week, we rescued, you know, like ointments and stuff that has a close by expiration date," Dipnarine said. An official from FEMA confirmed to The Baltimore Sun over email that new immigrant detention facilities would largely be funded by the Shelter and Services Program. "The open borders gravy train is over, and there will not be a single penny spent that goes against the interest and safety of the American people," the official said. The Trump/Noem Instagram announcement said the Biden administration used the Shelter and Services Program "as a piggy bank to spend hundreds of millions of American taxpayer dollars to house illegal aliens." 4MyCiTy does not offer any housing programs, but it did receive grant funding to support food services for undocumented immigrants requiring food assistance under the Shelter and Services Program. In spite of the funding cut, city residents still line up for food. 4MyCiTy's food pickup and compost program has over 12,000 registered households, according to Dipnarine. 4MyCiTy is applying for other grants, Dipnarine said. But challenges remain as other organizations lose federal funding and the grant pool shrinks. He said the organization has had to cut back on hours and hold off recruiting more kids for their youth mentorship program. "It's been very, you know, a very difficult time over the last few months trying to navigate our situation," Dipnarine said. --------------- Copyright (C) 2025, Tribune Content Agency, LLC. Portions copyrighted by the respective providers.
The Hill
18-07-2025
- Politics
- The Hill
White House official: $2B for Alcatraz renovations ‘sounds excessive'
A senior White House official on Friday said President Trump's request to reopen Alcatraz at a reported $2 billion price tag seems 'excessive.' The figure 'sounds excessive, but ultimately it's up to the President to decide,' the official told NewsNation, The Hill's sister station. Attorney General Pam Bondi and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum toured the island that houses the complex in San Francisco Bay on Thursday to evaluate the state of the former maximum security prison, which was closed in 1963. 'We're still in the early stages,' one administration official told Axios. 'We need a lot more study, a lot more specificity, before the president decides,' they said. 'But $2 billion might just be too much money for him.' The Trump administration has not confirmed that the project costs. Axios reported on Friday that the president is assessing whether to pour $2 billion into a complete renovation of the site, invest $1 billion into partial reconstruction efforts that would not occupy the entire island or allow private contractors to bid on the project. The latter measure was used to secure the Delaney Hall Detention Center in New Jersey for federal immigration operations. The Federal Emergency Management Agency's (FEMA) Shelter and Services Program also recently funded the opening of the 'Alligator Alcatraz' migrant detention center in the Florida Everglades. The White House and Interior Department did not immediately respond to The Hill's request for comment on potential developments at the California prison managed by the National Park Service. The Justice Department pointed The Hill to comments made online by Bondi and Burgum following their trip to the prison. 'In @POTUS ' America, law and order will be fully enforced, and today's visit to Alcatraz with @AGPamBondi marked a powerful step toward ensuring dangerous criminals are held accountable and Americans remain safe,' the Interior secretary wrote on social platform X, while sharing photos from the visit. Bondi posted a similar message. Trump announced in May that he directed the administration to begin work to reopen the prison, which the Bureau of Prisons (BOP) said was closed due to high costs. 'REBUILD, AND OPEN ALCATRAZ! For too long, America has been plagued by vicious, violent, and repeat Criminal Offenders, the dregs of society, who will never contribute anything other than Misery and Suffering,' Trump wrote on Truth Social at the time. 'When we were a more serious Nation, in times past, we did not hesitate to lock up the most dangerous criminals, and keep them far away from anyone they could harm,' he added. 'That's the way it's supposed to be.' The initiative has sparked some backlash, primarily from Democrats including former Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), who represents San Francisco. 'With stiff competition, the planned announcement to reopen Alcatraz as a federal penitentiary is the Trump Administration's stupidest initiative yet,' Pelosi wrote in a statement. 'It should concern us all that clearly the only intellectual resources the Administration has drawn upon for this foolish notion are decades-old fictional Hollywood movies.' She continued, saying 'it remains to be seen how this Administration could possibly afford to spend billions to convert and maintain Alcatraz as a prison when they are already adding trillions of dollars to the national debt with their sinful law,' a reference to the newly signed 'big, beautiful bill.' 'Should reason not prevail and Republicans bring this absurdity before the Congress, Democrats will use every parliamentary and budgetary tactic available to stop the lunacy,' the former Democratic leader added.
Yahoo
05-07-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Trump praises onetime rival DeSantis: ‘You'll always be my friend'
President Trump praised his former primary rival Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) during his visit to the state's new migrant detention facility known as 'Alligator Alcatraz' on Tuesday. 'Ron, I'd like to thank you personally,' Trump told DeSantis at a roundtable event. 'You're my friend, you'll always be my friend, and we may have some skirmishes even in the future, I doubt it, but we'll always come back because we have blood that seems to match pretty well,' the president continued. 'We have a relationship that has been a strong one for a very long time and I appreciate it.' Trump also hailed Florida for its role in working with his administration to enforce the president's robust immigration policy. 'I want to express my tremendous thanks to the state of Florida for embracing this opportunity and being a true partner,' he said. 'They've worked so well with the federal government. It's been just a beautiful, beautiful partnership.' The site, located in the swampy Florida Everglades, includes soft-sided holding units for hundreds of detainees through a partnership in which the federal government will provide the funding. The Florida Division of Emergency Management has overseen its build-out and management. Additional holding units will be added through next month, under the agreement. The facility is expected to cost about $450 million per year, which will come from the Federal Emergency Management Agency's Shelter and Services Program that was used to house asylum-seekers during the Biden administration. DeSantis also offered his own compliments for Trump, pointing to the U.S. strikes on three Iranian nuclear sites last month. 'As somebody who was serving on active duty in Iraq back in the day, we witnessed the number of our troops that were killed or wounded by the Iranians,' the governor said. 'We know that they are a militant, Islamic regime that was hellbent on getting nuclear weapons and under Joe Biden, they were about to get nuclear weapons.' 'Because of your strong actions, those dreams and those ambitions have been reduced to rubble,' he added, calling the president's decision to strike Iran 'tough but strong.' The camaraderie between the two leaders is a sea change from the 2024 Republican presidential primary, when Trump and DeSantis famously sparred for the GOP nomination. DeSantis later dropped out and endorsed Trump. The governor has since worked to partner with the White House on its crackdown on illegal immigration. Earlier this year, the Sunshine State governor called for a special state legislative session to implement the president's immigration agenda. That move resulted in backlash from Republican members of Florida's state Legislature, who claimed that DeSantis did not have the authority to hold a special session. However, Tuesday's event brought together allies of DeSantis and a number of his political critics, including state House Speaker Daniel Perez (R), state Sen. Joe Gruters (R), Agriculture Commissioner Wilton Simpson (R) and Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Fla.), whom Trump has endorsed for governor. DeSantis is term limited and cannot seek a third consecutive term, though his wife, Florida first lady Casey DeSantis, has been floated as a potential candidate. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
05-07-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
DeSantis: ‘Alligator Alcatraz' will be ‘ready for business' when Trump visits
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) touted the state's new migrant detention facility known as 'Alligator Alcatraz' ahead of President Trump's visit to the state this week, saying it will be open for business. 'I think by tomorrow, it'll be ready for business,' DeSantis said during a press conference in Wildwood, Fla., on Monday. DeSantis, who confirmed that Trump would be in attendance at the facility's official opening on Tuesday, noted that he spoke with Trump over the weekend. 'He's very excited about doing it,' the governor said. DeSantis and Trump went head-to-head in the 2024 Republican presidential primary before the governor dropped out and backed the president. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said on Monday that Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Fla.), who Trump has endorsed for Florida governor ahead of 2026, will also be in attendance, along with Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem. DeSantis is term limited and cannot seek a third consecutive term as governor, though his wife, Florida first lady Casey DeSantis, has been floated as a potential candidate. The site includes soft-sided holding units for hundreds of detainees through a partnership in which the federal government will provide the funding. The Florida Division of Emergency Management has overseen its build-out and management. Additional holding units will be added through next month, under the agreement. The facility is expected to cost about $450 million per year, which will come from the Federal Emergency Management Agency's Shelter and Services Program that was used to house asylum-seekers during the Biden administration. DeSantis's administration has sought to partner with the Trump administration on the issue of immigration. Earlier this year, DeSantis called for a special state legislative session to implement Trump's immigration agenda. 'Florida should not be the only one in this fight,' the governor said on Monday. 'We literally are doing what the voters who elected all of us have been demanding for many, many years Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
05-07-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
House Democrats demand closure of ‘Alligator Alcatraz'
House Democrats are calling for the closure of Florida's new migrant detention facility on a remote site nestled in the Everglades dubbed 'Alligator Alcatraz,' citing it as an example of what they argue is the Trump administration's 'shameful, dehumanizing approach to immigration.' Democratic Reps. Janelle Bynum (Ore.) and Maxwell Frost (Fla.) led a group of 24 Democrats in sending a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and acting Director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Todd Lyons on Wednesday. The letter includes signatures from Reps. Pramila Jayapal (Wash.), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (N.Y.), Rashida Tlaib (Mich.) and Eric Swalwell (Calif.). The Democratic lawmakers panned the facility as a 'cruel and inhumane stunt.' The administration used money from the Federal Emergency Management Agency's (FEMA) Shelter and Services Program to build the facility, which is projected to cost about $450 million a year. 'This kind of cruel rhetoric and deliberate endangerment further exemplifies the administration's shameful, dehumanizing approach to immigration – an approach rooted in anti-immigrant hostility that is morally indefensible and in clear violation of fundamental human rights,' the members wrote in the letter. They said migrants detained there while awaiting deportation will be kept in tents 'with inadequate sanitation facilities' facing conditions including 'exposure to deadly pathogens, constant threats from unpredictable flooding and extreme weather events, and daily temperatures averaging 90 degrees, with a heat index often over 100 degrees Fahrenheit.' 'Erecting tents in the blazing Everglades sun, during hurricane season no less, and call it immigration enforcement is nothing short of disgusting and cruel. Donald Trump and his Administration don't care if migrant men, women, and children live or die – they only care about cruelty and spectacle,' Frost said in a statement. The group is demanding clarity on the funding and conditions at the facility and 'a commitment to humane treatment for all detainees at all detention facilities.' President Trump toured the site Tuesday to mark its opening, touting the facility alongside Noem. The facility was built through a partnership with state and federal resources to bolster Trump's immigration crackdown and features soft-sided units outfitted with chain-link cells that have been built to house hundreds of detainees. 'It's known as 'Alligator Alcatraz,' which is very appropriate, because I looked outside and it's not a place I want to go hiking anytime soon,' Trump said while at the facility. 'We're surrounded by miles of treacherous swampland and the only way out is, really, deportation.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
