The Federal Emergency Management Agency has frozen nearly $10 billion in disaster aid for nonprofits including hospitals as it seeks to identify funding that could be used to help undocumented migrants, according to agency documents obtained by POLITICO’s E&E News.
The blocked money had been approved for nongovernmental organizations to rebuild their own facilities after a disaster and to provide services such as short-term housing to survivors.
FEMA is reviewing the funding to determine whether it helps migrants in violation of a Feb. 6 executive order by President Donald Trump to “stop funding NGOs that undermine the national interest.” The review is part of Trump’s broader crackdown on immigration and other programs that focus on climate change or diversity.
“That will adversely impact recovery, whether it’s North Carolina, Los Angeles or West Virginia,” former FEMA chief of staff Michael Coen said in an interview on Friday. “In these communities, a lot of the NGOs are a key part of the community and the community recovery process.”
“Further review will hold up funding to NGOs,” Coen added.
Neither FEMA or DHS responded to requests for comment.
Nonprofit organizations are eligible for FEMA recovery money — just like cities and states — to rebuild after disasters. They also receive funding to provide short-term housing in hotels or apartments to people who were displaced by hurricanes, wildfires or other catastrophes.
The documents obtained by E&E News describe the results of an analysis by FEMA and the Department of Homeland Security to determine whether 56 FEMA programs violate Trump’s order on immigration. Almost all of FEMA’s disaster aid programs were found to comply with Trump’s restrictions. They provide tens of billions of dollars a year to states in direct funding for disaster recovery and repairs. States also receive FEMA grants to protect themselves against future disasters.
The freeze is unrelated to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s recent comment about eliminating FEMA, or internal discussions about dissolving or narrowing the scope of the agency.
Coen, the former chief of staff, and others close to FEMA praised the decision to allow disaster aid to reach states and municipalities.
“I’m really not surprised that FEMA employees were able to put the effort into defending these programs. I really commend them for what they did,” Coen said. “The secretary agreed with their findings, authorizing that funding start to flow.”
The two frozen disaster programs are facing further review by FEMA to determine whether they comply with Trump’s prohibition against helping undocumented migrants.
One helps nonprofits rebuild after disasters and has $8.5 billion in frozen funds that had previously been approved.
The other program provides money to nonprofits for short-term housing and has $1.3 billion in frozen funds.
FEMA acting Administrator Cameron Hamilton wrote the memos on March 20, and Noem approved them on Tuesday, the same day she said “we’re going to eliminate FEMA” at a televised Cabinet meeting with Trump.
FEMA’s review also found problems with two programs that give funding to state emergency management agencies. One memo said FEMA found a “high likelihood” that the programs provide funding to nonprofits that work on immigration.
Both programs, which allocate roughly $800 million a year, are frozen while DHS reviews them.
