Fri, July 25, 2025
FILE PHOTO: An aerial view of "Alligator Alcatraz" ICE detention center in Ochopee
By Courtney Rozen
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The Federal Emergency Management Agency is preparing to send $608 million to states to construct immigrant detention centers as part of the Trump administration's push to expand capacity to hold migrants.
FEMA is starting a “detention support grant program” to cover the cost of states building temporary facilities, according to an agency announcement. States have until August 8 to apply for the funds, according to the post.
The Trump administration has been encouraging states to build their own facilities to detain migrants. This program provides a way for the administration to help states pay for it.
The funds will be distributed by FEMA in partnership with U.S. Customs and Border Protection, according to the post.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, a Republican, said on Friday morning the state would apply for FEMA reimbursement to pay for its new immigrant detention center known as “Alligator Alcatraz.” DHS officials said this summer the facility will cost an estimated $450 million annually.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has said DHS will tap FEMA’s $650-million shelter and services program to fund Florida’s facility. Congress during the Biden administration directed DHS to distribute the money to state and local governments to cover the cost of sheltering migrants. Nonprofits were also eligible. The funding stream was separate from money Congress set aside for FEMA to cover disaster relief."Secretary Noem has been very clear that the funding for Alligator Alcatraz can be a blueprint for other states and local governments to assist with detention," a FEMA spokesperson said.
FEMA declined to answer a question from Reuters about whether other states would receive money for detention facilities.
(Reporting by Courtney Rozen; additional reporting by Ted Hesson; editing by Rod Nickel and Nick Zieminski)
Fema announces funds for states to detain undocumented migrants
Kayla Epstein - BBC News
Fri, July 25, 2025 a
Fema headquarters in Washington, DC [Getty Images]
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (Fema) has announced more than $600m (£446m) in funding for states and local entities to detain undocumented migrants while they await transfer to federal facilities.
The new grant comes as the Trump administration seeks to carry out mass deportations and redefine the disaster relief agency's mission and structure.
Fema says the programme will relieve overcrowding at short-term holding facilities and increase detention capacity in local and state facilities.
The agency had previously administered a shelter and services programme that helped states and cities support non-citizen migrants released by the Department of Homeland Security, its parent agency.
That programme was terminated, however, and the new grant for detentions appeared to be a new iteration of those funds, William Turner, Connecticut's state emergency management director, told the BBC.
Applicants have until 8 August to apply for the new grant.
Fema frequently publishes funding opportunities for states, cities, and local communities to pay for emergency training, preparedness, and equipment.
But this new grant comes as the Trump administration turns to states for assistance in carrying out its mass deportation policies.
Some states like Florida, led by Republican Governor Ron DeSantis, have assisted the White House in carrying out its goal. Florida now runs a detention facility known as "Alligator Alcatraz" with the capacity to house up to 2,000 people, according to state officials.
The state converted an all-but-abandoned airport in Florida's Everglades for the purpose. Critics have challenged the alleged inhumane conditions inside the facility its location would lead to environmental harm.
Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has said "Alligator Alcatraz" will cost about $450m to operate and that funds would come from FEMA's prior shelter and services programme.
During a visit this month, President Donald Trump said the detention centre was "surrounded by miles of treacherous swampland and the only way out is, really, deportation".
At a press conference on Friday, DeSantis said the Trump administration had called on states to assist with the mass deportations and cast the Florida facility as a model.
"I would reiterate that call, I think it will make a difference," DeSantis said.
He said deportation flights have begun to depart from that detention facility and that "hundreds" of other detainees on the site in the Everglades have been processed for deportation.
Fema has undergone a transformation during the Trump administration, as the president and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem have floated the idea of shuttering the agency and transferring its responsibilities to individual states.
Top emergency management officials have departed the agency along with hundreds of staff who left amid the Trump administration's effort to drastically reduce the federal workforce.
Washington State alleges Trump administration unlawfully revoked $4M grant to shelter migrants
Shawn Garrett
Fri, July 25, 2025
The Washington Attorney General’s Office filed a federal lawsuit Friday challenging the Department of Homeland Security’s termination of a $4 million grant aimed at helping shelter newly arrived noncitizen migrants.
The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington, accuses DHS and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) of unlawfully revoking Washington’s award from the federal Shelter and Services Program (SSP), which Congress created to help states and communities cover the cost of supporting migrants released from federal immigration custody.
According to the complaint, FEMA had awarded Washington $4,039,516 in September 2024 to reimburse local governments and nonprofits for shelter, food, medical care, and related services for migrants released by DHS
The funds were also meant to expand service capacity, including for organizations like Mary’s Place, Public Health–Seattle & King County, and the City of Tukwila, all of which had already been providing emergency aid to hundreds of migrants daily.
But after President Donald Trump returned to office and signed an executive order in January 2025 targeting what he called “sanctuary jurisdictions,” the lawsuit alleges DHS abruptly withdrew the funds.
FEMA reduced Washington’s grant balance to zero in February without explanation and then officially terminated the award on April 1, citing a new DHS policy that aid to migrants “is not consistent with DHS’s current priorities.”
Washington officials say the move bypassed Congress’s intent and violated constitutional limits on executive power.
The state argues the grant was lawfully approved to support migrants who had already been released from DHS custody—many of whom arrived in Washington with no money or housing and little access to federal support.
According to the complaint, more than 45,000 such migrants settled in the state between 2022 and 2024.
The lawsuit seeks to have the grant reinstated, arguing that DHS’s actions violate the separation of powers, the Spending Clause, and the Administrative Procedure Act.
It also alleges the administration failed to provide evidence for its claim that Washington’s use of the funds was unlawful.
As of Friday, FEMA has not responded to Washington’s formal objection to the grant’s termination.
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