FEMA wants the names and addresses of migrants helped by Texas nonprofits and local governments that got federal grant $

A letter sent this week claims the grant recipients, including many Texas cities and counties, may have illegally “induced” undocumented immigrants to enter the country.

By Uriel J. García, Alejandro Serrano and Berenice Garcia
March 13, 2025Updated: 4 PM Central
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The Trump administration has asked local governments and nonprofit organizations that received federal grants to identify immigrants they have housed, suggesting in a letter that they may have violated human smuggling laws.

The Department of Homeland Security has “significant concerns” that organizations and governments receiving Federal Emergency Management Agency grants “may be guilty of encouraging or inducing an alien to come to, enter, or reside in the United States” violating immigration laws, according to a March 11 letter signed by Cameron Hamilton, acting administrator of FEMA.

The three-page letter was first reported by the Associated Press and obtained by The Texas Tribune. In the letter, Hamilton asked that local governments and organizations that have received a grant from FEMA’s Shelter and Services Program respond within 30 days with a list of the names and contact information for immigrants they have assisted.
Hamilton said that moving forward, FEMA will ask recipients of these grants to sign an affidavit stating that no one within the organization or local government has any knowledge or suspicion of violating human smuggling laws.
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The letter also says FEMA grants will be withheld as DHS conducts its review.

According to the American Immigration Council, a Washington, D.C., nonprofit organization that advocates for immigrant rights, FEMA grants are not directly given to migrants. As part of the conditions of receiving the money, the groups and municipal governments can only provide aid to migrants who federal immigration officials have already processed.



https://www.texastribune.org/2025/03/13/texas-fema-federal-grants-immigrants/