The Federal Emergency Management Agency will no longer pay Denver about $24 million in promised grant money to cover what the city already spent to shelter migrants, according to a letter sent this month.
“The (Department of Homeland Security), consistent with President Trump’s direction, is focused on advancing the essential mission of enforcing immigration laws and securing the border,” says the letter, obtained by The Denver Post.
The city received the notice April 1 but it wasn’t made public until it was cited during a City Council presentation by the city’s Department of Finance Monday afternoon.
In response to a question from Councilwoman Shontel Lewis, Budget Director Justin Sykes mentioned the letter and said the department hasn’t included canceled or possibly canceled federal grant dollars as it develops the upcoming 2026 city budget.
FEMA awarded Denver $32 million but has sent only about $8 million, leaving about $24 million unfulfilled. It’s unclear if federal officials will also require Denver to return the money the federal government already gave the city.
Denver intended to use the FEMA dollars to help offset what it spent to temporarily shelter an influx of about 43,000 migrants who arrived in the city between late 2022 and 2024, including many sent by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott.
The city, which is counting on about $150 million in federal dollars for its 2025 budget, is following funding threats from the federal government closely, Sykes said. Since taking office in January, President Donald Trump has threatened to withhold federal money of different kinds from cities seen as too supportive of undocumented immigrants.
New York also received a letter from FEMA on April 1 terminating $188 million in grants, according to The New York Times. Elsewhere, the Justice Department is suing Chicago over its policies that limit cooperation with immigration authorities.
While Denver’s budget will undoubtedly take a hit from the loss of the FEMA funding, it won’t be felt immediately because the city wasn’t expecting a reimbursement for several years, city spokesperson Jon Ewing told The Post.
Earlier, FEMA, which is under the Department of Homeland Security, sent city officials a letter in March threatening to withhold the dollars and accusing the city of using the money for illegal activities. The agency also asked Denver to provide detailed information about whom it helped shelter. The city was already required to provide some of that information for the original grant application but did so again in response to the request, Ewing said.
The letter, signed by acting FEMA administrator Cameron Hamilton, said the agency is terminating the payments because the award is “not consistent” with the department’s priorities.
“Grant programs that 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,” according to the letter.
The grant dollars were part of FEMA’s Shelter and Services Program, which Congress authorizes. The program directs FEMA to support non-federal entities that are sheltering “noncitizen migrants following their release from the Department of Homeland Security.”
The Trump administration hasn’t sent the city any other specific threats to pull back grant dollars, Ewing said.
Trump signed two executive orders related to his crackdown on migrants Monday, including one that directs state and federal officials to publish lists of “sanctuary city” jurisdictions, according to the Associated Press. The other expands law enforcement operations to make it easier to detain migrants.
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