In the Trump administration’s latest attempt to target Denver over its immigration policies, the Federal Emergency Management Agency sent a letter to the city’s leadership threatening to withhold $32 million that had been promised through grants.
The letter, first obtained by the Associated Press, outlined “significant concerns” about how various recipients of FEMA grants, including Denver, used federal dollars to operate shelters that aided immigrants. The letter says the Department of Homeland Security is concerned that Denver is “guilty of encouraging or inducing an alien to come to, enter, or reside in the United States in violation of law.”
The letter was dated March 11.
“We have received the letter from the Trump Administration and are currently reviewing its contents. Denver has committed no violation and will continue to comply with local, state, and federal laws,” said Jon Ewing, a spokesperson for the mayor’s office.
Federal officials have launched a review of FEMA’s “Shelter and Services Program” and the grants it dispersed to various cities. As part of the review, FEMA has asked for the names and contact information of immigrants the city sheltered.
Ewing told Denverite the grants are essentially given as reimbursements for money the city has already spent. FEMA had promised about $32 million to the city, but had only delivered a third of that.
He added that, as part of the application process for the grants, the city already had to provide the identities of immigrants they helped to the federal government.
Denver has spent tens of millions on its immigrant response and assisted tens of thousands of people, many of whom were sent to Colorado by the state of Texas. In recent months, the city has scaled down its immigrant response by moving away from emergency shelter towards lower-cost efforts to help immigrants become more self-sufficient. The number of immigrants arriving in the city has dropped sharply.
The threat comes after the mayor's 'sanctuary' city testimony
Earlier this month, Mayor Mike Johnston testified before the House Committee on Government Reform.
He was grilled by Republicans in their investigation into so-called sanctuary cities, which they allege interfered with federal immigration enforcement.
Rep. James Comer, the chair of the committee, said not a “single penny in federal funding” should go to the cities — backing a Trump pledge to defund cities that do not get in line with his mass deportation efforts.
Denverite’s Kyle Harris contributed to this report.
