FEMA's Shelter and Services Program — which provides grants to cities and nonprofits to shelter migrants released from federal custody — would be permanently shut down. Any unspent money already allocated to the program would be clawed back to the Treasury. The program has distributed hundreds of millions of dollars to local organizations in cities like New York, Chicago, and Denver to cover temporary housing, food, and transportation for migrants. Supporters of the bill argue taxpayer-funded disaster relief money shouldn't go toward immigration services; opponents say the program prevents humanitarian crises in communities absorbing large numbers of new arrivals.
Congressional Summary
End FEMA Benefits for Illegal Immigrants ActThis bill prohibits the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) from carrying out the Shelter and Services Program (SSP) and rescinds unobligated funds transferred to FEMA for this purpose for FY2023-FY2024. The SSP provides grants to public and nonprofit entities for temporarily providing shelter and other services (e.g., food, transportation) to noncitizen migrants released from Department of Homeland Security custody and awaiting immigration court proceedings, as well as for increasing grant recipients’ capacity to temporarily shelter such individuals (e.g., modifying existing facilities).
Details
- Congress
- 119th
- Chamber
- Senate
- Status
- summarized
- Action
- Introduced in Senate
- Action Date
- 2025-02-27
- Date Added
- 2026-04-14