EL PASO, Texas — When Joe Biden toured the border in January, John Martin shook hands with the president at immigration shelter and leaned in with a special request.
Border aid organizations like Martin’s Homeless Opportunity Center worked to feed and evacuate thousands of migrants during the winter 2022 humanitarian crisis. But they faced a dilemma. The federal government will only compensate immigrants if they help them submit the proper documentation, despite the growing number of illegal immigrants entering the country.
Martin asked Biden, “Can we make an exception for border communities?”
For now the answer is no. Governments and nonprofits on the U.S.-Mexico border claim they have tied up the flow of funds that will only be reimbursed if the federal government supports documented immigrants.
At the height of the humanitarian crisis Monday, more than 3,300 untreated migrants were left in poor conditions on the streets of El Paso despite having beds in shelters. Local leaders say so many homeless people are creating the problematic powder keg in desperate circumstances. Trash and excrement, potential prostitution targets for migrants, and populations trapped by smugglers.
“This is a national issue that needs to be addressed,” said a deputy at the Opportunity Center, which provides shelter to homeless locals and migrants who arrive at the border without food, housing or money to buy a ticket to their final destination. Director Martin said..
“We’re in front of us. It’s not just El Paso. It’s every community along the southern border,” he said. “Cities, counties and NGOs are all working together. It’s a very good system for meeting needs, but now federal law is working against us.”
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conditional federal funding
The federal government spends hundreds of millions of dollars not only in key destinations like New York City, but also in border communities to care for migrants and prevent overcrowding of federal short-term detention facilities.
ever since Fund Flow was founded in 2019, it was intended for immigrants processed by U.S. Customs and Border Protection. It was not intended to cover food and housing for immigrants who entered illegally and did not seek asylum.
but, An internal government watchdog announced last year that The Federal Emergency Management Agency needed better oversight of the Emergency Food and Shelter Program, which subsidizes both immigration services and broader population assistance.
“It’s always been a requirement, but it’s never been articulated,” said Aaron Raichlin Melnick, policy director at the American Immigration Council.
Frontline groups in the humanitarian crisis say this means people are starving and sleeping on the sidewalks.
Last Sunday, migrants picked up cardboard beds and blankets as Mass bells rang out at El Paso’s historic Sacred Heart Catholic Church. City officials swooped in with brooms and garbage bags, while police guarded the entrance for churchgoers. A dozen of the immigrants found seats in hardwood pews among the local congregation.
“People only eat once a day,” said Father Daniel Mora, explaining the limitations nonprofits and faith-based organizations face in providing assistance to immigrants.
“FEMA will only compensate those who are documented,” Mora said. “Many people around here – they would say – crossed without permission. These meals are not reimbursed.”
“It is immoral not to feed people.”
For 40 years, FEMA has provided subsidies from its Emergency Food and Shelter Program, but in 2019 Congress created a separate program to serve migrants encountered by Homeland Security at the Southern Border.
If audited, Grant Recipients Need to Prepare Provide the name of the person served, along with an “alien identification number” (often called an “A” number) that will be assigned after processing by Border Patrol or other federal agency.
But immigrant aid groups in El Paso and other border cities were accustomed to seeking reimbursement through the original FEMA program, which was not limited to processed immigrants. Proponents argue that the “A” number requirement places an undue burden on border areas. In border areas, recent immigrants sometimes mix with existing immigrants, some of them illegally, he said.
However, it was programs specifically aimed at documented immigrants that saw a significant increase in funding towards 2023. recently distributed $332 million To affected communities.
Arizona Rep. Raul Grijalva, whose constituency stretches more than 300 miles from the U.S.-Mexico border, said anything that adds bureaucracy should be reconsidered.
“People on the ground know what they need,” he says. “They should be the first people we listen to about how we use our resources and where we use our resources.”
Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mallorcas said restrictions tied to funding DHS-processed immigrants were “necessary,” and appeared to suggest that NGOs should tackle the issue on their own.
“We believe that urban non-governmental organizations can serve the untreated needs of individuals.” He said.
El Paso’s main food bank, the nonprofit El Pasoans’ Fighting Hunger, is struggling to keep people fed as one humanitarian crisis turns into the next.
Chief Executive Susan Goodell said last week the organization provided 3,000 bento meals each day to migrants living in shelters and on the streets.
“We believe it is immoral to withhold food from people, regardless of their position,” she said.
“But when people are suffering so much, our trucks are often filled with people trying to ensure food for themselves and their children,” she said. It’s not safe to ask if she has an “A” number. ”
Border policies create a ‘man-made emergency’
Some in Congress say the government should not spend FEMA funds on immigration services.
“This is a man-made emergency,” Rep. Andy Harris (R, Md.) told the FEMA Administrator at the FEMA Budget Hearing in April. “I think it goes far beyond what people expect from FEMA.”
Dr. Francisco Garcia, chief medical officer of Pima County, Arizona, told legislators at a separate April hearing that the most frequently asked question was why border counties should allow local charities to host immigrants, eat meals, and provide medical care. He said he was assisting with inspections and transportation.
“Thousands of people with limited resources and limited English proficiency, with no food, no money, no place to sleep, wondering how to get to an unfamiliar part of the country is bad for their health. The safety and welfare of everyone in this country,” Garcia said.
“We have a duty to protect the people of Pima County by helping asylum seekers move quickly and efficiently to their final destinations, aid organizations and families,” he said.
Federal funding needs to be more stable and timely.
Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-Arizona) told FEMA Administrator Dean Criswell: in a recent letter Restrictions on the program, including a 90-day limit on some services, may hamper local leaders’ ability to deal with the surge in immigration, they said.
The program is transitioning to a new funding vehicle, the Shelter and Services Program, to support the humanitarian needs of immigrants who have been released from DHS custody and are awaiting trial in immigration courts.
“It will prove to be more agile,” Mayorcas said Thursday.
Foodbank director Goodell said her organization relied on philanthropy despite its growing responsibility to prevent humanitarian disasters at the border.
“We have to rely on the kindness of others in the form of charitable donations,” she says. “But now without government support, it becomes difficult when the numbers are very high.”
Lauren Villagran reports from El Paso, Texas.
Maureen Groppe Reported from Washington.
