The Trump administration is refusing to honor over $52.6 million in federal funding to Pima County, accusing officials of engaging in or facilitating illegal immigration.
On Tuesday, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) notified Pima County of its denial of three grants awarded in 2023, with one set to expire in September of this year and the remaining two set to expire in September 2026.
The grants were awarded for the county’s Shelter and Services Program (SSP).
“The Department of Homeland Security has significant concerns that SSP funding is going to entities engaged in or facilitating illegal activities,” said DHS/FEMA. “The Department is concerned that entities receiving payment under this program may be guilty of encouraging or inducing an alien to come to, enter, or reside in the United States in violation of law; transporting or moving illegal aliens; harboring, concealing, or shielding from detection illegal aliens; or applicable conspiracy, aiding or abetting, or attempt liability respecting these statutes.”
DHS/FEMA requested the county to provide the following information within 30 days of the letter: all documents regarding the aliens with whom their departments and subrecipients and contracts interacted with in carrying out the scope of their SSP award, including their names and contact information; and a detailed and descriptive list of specific services provided, and proof of provision of these services. DHS/FEMA allowed the county to appeal its decision within 60 days of the letter.
DHS/FEMA further notified Pima County it would require signed affidavits denying participation in immigration crimes from county officials and executive officers of all subrecipients or contractors receiving SSP federal funding.
Pima County wasn’t the only one to receive such a letter from DHS/FEMA. According to a memorandum from the county administrator issued on Wednesday, the state of Arizona, both Maricopa and Yuma counties, and a Maricopa County-based nonprofit organization received similar letters suspending federal funds for illegal immigrants.
That same memorandum reported county leaders would provide an update on the DHS/FEMA letter and other federal projects during its upcoming board of supervisors meeting next Tuesday.
Maricopa County’s next board meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, March 26. Yuma County’s next board meeting is scheduled for Monday, March 24.
Pima County received tens of millions over the course of the Biden administration, though the county frequently reported operating on a deficit due to services provided outpacing federal resources.
By last May, the county reported assisting nearly half a million illegal aliens with federal funding. Aid provided included medical, food, housing, and transportation. The county averaged assistance of around (usually above) 1,000 illegal immigrants a day. This came to cost, at minimum, $1 million a week.
The county warned sheltering services would cost between $50 million to $60 million a year to maintain without federal funding, with county leadership acknowledging the state of immigration to be a “crisis.”
The DHS/FEMA letter may have come at no surprise to Pima County. In January, the day after President Donald Trump’s inauguration, the board of supervisors directed the county to decrease its funding by 99 percent (from nearly $3 million to just over $33,000) for illegal immigrant shelter and services.
