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Biden-Harris Admin Doling Out Hundreds Of Millions In More Funding To Communities Dealing With Illegal Migrant Crisis

The Biden-Harris administration announced Wednesday it would provide hundreds of millions of dollars in additional funding to local and state governments dealing with the illegal immigration crisis.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) will distribute more than $380 million through FEMA's Shelter and Services Program (SSP) to communities across the country that are providing shelter, care and other services to undocumented immigrants and other foreign nationals recently released from federal prison, the department announced. press releaseThe extra funding highlights the enormous amount of funding the Biden-Harris administration continues to spend on immigration, despite a recent drop in illegal border crossings. (Related story: Biden-Harris administration reportedly preparing to restart fraud-plagued migrant flight program)

“Through the SSP, DHS is directly supporting communities providing critical assistance, including food, housing, clothing, emergency medical care, and transportation, to aliens who have recently been released from DHS custody and are awaiting immigration court proceedings,” DHS said.

“FEMA is [Customs and Border Protection]The DHS statement continued, “We work with state, local and tribal governments, and non-governmental organizations to administer these SSP grants and help prevent overcrowding in CBP's short-term detention facilities.”

NEW YORK, NY – DECEMBER 6: Migrants wait in long lines overnight hoping to get into a city shelter in the East Village neighborhood of New York City on December 6, 2023. (Photo by Andrew Lichtenstein/Corbis via Getty Images)

According to DHS, the funding announced this week is an increase on approximately $260 million in SSP grants distributed in April 2024. The Biden-Harris Administration has awarded more than $780 million in fiscal year 2023 through the SSP and emergency food and shelter programs to various organizations and cities across the country.

DHS also highlighted a “significant decline” in encounters with migrants since President Joe Biden issued an executive order in June to crack down on illegal border crossings. Encounters with Border Patrol agents in July were down 32% from the previous month, marking the lowest monthly total along the U.S.-Mexico border since September 2020, according to DHS.

But the announcement of additional funding for communities dealing with an influx of migrants needing care highlights how the border crisis remains ongoing, even in cities thousands of miles from the Mexican border.

“Massachusetts urgently needs federal assistance to meet the unprecedented demand on our family shelter system due to a surge in migrant families,” Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey said in a statement Wednesday. press release.

The state has received more than $20 million in SSP grants, which the governor said is the largest grant ever from the program. Massachusetts has been forced to cut back on its shelter services due to the large influx of migrants and financial strain, and many migrants are sleeping outdoors as funding for shelter services has dried up.

“We thank the Biden-Harris Administration and FEMA for awarding this $20 million grant, and the City of Boston and our congressional delegation for their collaboration and support,” Healey continued Wednesday.

Other major cities far from the U.S.-Mexico border also spend significant amounts of money to combat illegal immigration in their jurisdictions. New York City has about $1.5 billion To support immigrants, Chicago has $400 million And Denver Distributed Tens of millions.

Border Patrol has encountered more than 7 million migrants attempting to cross the U.S.-Mexico border illegally since the Biden-Harris administration took office. According to Latest CBP data.

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