(The Center Square) — New York City is taking the Trump administration to court over its decision to clawback more than $80 million in Federal Emergency Management Agency funds for migrant shelters.
The New York City Law Department filed a lawsuit on Friday alleging that the “long arm of the federal government” illegally seized the FEMA funds approved by Congress to help reimburse the city to cover the costs of housing tens of thousands of migrants who flocked to the city over the past two years amid a surge of immigration along the U.S.-Mexico border.
Lawyers for the city are asking a judge to return the money and prevent the federal government from taking additional funding from the bank account in connection to the shelter program in the future.
“Despite the fact that FEMA had reviewed and approved the city’s request, and issued payment, defendants grabbed the money back without any administrative process whatsoever,” lawyers wrote in the 50-page complaint.
The legal challenge comes after FEMA last week rescinded money it had paid out to the city as a reimbursement for expenses incurred covering lodging costs for migrants.
FEMA approved the grants by the Biden administration to New York City in February to ensure the “safe, orderly, and humane release of noncitizen migrants from DHS short-term holding facilities.”
Last week, City Comptroller Brad Lander announced that “without notice or explanation,” a $59 million FEMA grant and another award for $21.5 million had been pulled back by the federal government after accessing the city’s bank account.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem posted on social media that she “clawed back” the payments, saying that “FEMA deep state activists unilaterally gave to NYC migrant hotels.” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters at a briefing the administration felt paying for hotels for migrants in the city was “not a worthy expense” while FEMA deals with costly disasters in other states.
New York City has spent an estimated $7 billion on housing and other costs for more than 230,000 migrants who have arrived since early 2022, with about 45,000 individuals currently under its care.
Mayor Eric Adams, who has been accused of siding with Trump’s immigration crackdown in exchange for dropping federal charges against him, criticized the administration’s move to claw back the money. He said New York shouldn’t be saddled with the cost of caring for migrants alone.
“The $80 million that FEMA approved, paid, and then rescinded — after the city spent more than $7 billion in the last three years — is the bare minimum our taxpayers deserve. And that’s why we’re going to work to ensure our city’s residents get every dollar they are owed.”