Photo: David Dee Delgado/Getty Images
After intense pressure from New York State, primarily from Big Apple Mayor Eric Adams, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) determined to expand aid to communities with $77 million dollars.
The resources, the DHS indicated this Monday, should be allocated to communities on the border and in other states, such as California and New York, that receive migrants through the Refuge and Services System (SSP).
The funds will be available for 53 recipients of aid for temporary accommodation and other costs eligible individuals associated with migrants awaiting the outcome of their immigration proceedings,” the agency said.
DHS claims that so far $770 million have been allocated for this type of financing that has benefited 69 entities.
The agency in charge of Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas affirms that the government of President Joe Biden expands, at the same time, access to legal and orderly channels and processes, but also “continues to apply reinforced consequences for illegal entry.”
DHS also asked Congress for $600 million in the supplemental budget for the current fiscal year (which ends in September) to help immigrants.
The funds were appropriated by Congress, after authorizing a transfer of $800 million in funds from the Customs and Border Protection (CBP) office to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
“DHS also amended the policy to expand the limit for both hotel/motel and airfare to 10 percent of total funding requested,” it said. “DHS will also allow recipients to request a waiver of those limits based on operational need.”
The New York government of Adams reported that it has received more than 100,000 immigrants to whom it provides room and board. Currently almost 60,000 receive that support.
While in California, the government of the Republican in Texas, Greg Abbott, sent the ninth bus with immigrants, as part of its pressure on Democrats to increase surveillance and arrests at the border.
Last July, Mayor Adams and a group of New York legislators went to DHS to push for more help.
At the express question of this medium, the federal government then informed that the resources would be granted through programs in process, such as the SSP.
Funds for organizations
The National Association for New Americans (NPNA) and Cities and Counties for Citizenship (CC4C) celebrated expanded funding that, so far this year, has helped 40 states, counties and cities, plus 70 organizations.
“The $77 million will help 53 communities along the border and in the interior of the United States to provide food, shelter and other basic services to migrants, many of whom have fled to the United States in search of safety and in need. of asylum protection”, defended NPNA.
Nicole Melaku, executive director of that association, said that while the resources were necessary, the Biden Administration must improve the way it distributes them.
“We have expressed our concerns to the administration about how SSP funds have been distributed thus far and we look forward to working with the federal government to ensure that future funds come with better coordination, transparency and accessibility,” Melaku said.
The NPNA, it was noted, has advocated for administrative changes to increase the ability of all nonprofit organizations to access federal funding.
“Last month, NPNA joined 72 organizations in a letter addressed to Biden Administration officials asking for greater coordination, transparency, and accessibility in the way it distributes funds,” it was recalled.
The NPNA brings together 66 civic organizations and helps improve immigration legal services, while the CC4C is a national network of more than 110 cities and counties working to promote naturalization and inclusion programs for immigrants and refugees at the local level. .
That last group is chaired by the mayors of New York City, Chicago, Los Angeles and Seattle, who are all NPNA-backed.
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