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If Catholic Charities of San Antonio doesn’t get federal funding to help asylum seekers soon, it will have to close its Immigrant Resource Center in the evenings and overnight, and buses carrying newly arrived migrants may be left on the street.
The nonprofit organization received $55 million from Federal Emergency Management Agency programs in the past year to provide temporary shelter, food, clothing, shelter, legal services, counseling, and transportation to their final destinations for more than 220,000 people. provided. However, with only $5.7 million left, the agency is considering reducing its welcome center hours in the coming weeks in order to maintain its ability to serve migrants during the day for the rest of the year.
last month’s assembly Approved fiscal year 2024 funding levels for FEMA’s shelter and services programs. It’s been almost six months since the federal funding package kicked in and the fiscal year began. Cities, counties and states across the country have repeatedly asked the federal government for additional funding to deal with the surge of migrants entering the United States, and the Biden administration last year recommended an additional $600 million for the program. asked the lawmakers. The program will no longer be able to provide additional financial support after late 2023.
But instead, lawmakers cut funding for the program to $650 million, about 20% less than a year earlier. The House and Senate appropriations committees did not respond to requests for comment.
Democratic Rep. Joaquin Castro, who represents San Antonio, said immigration is the federal government’s responsibility.
“Cities need more help, not less,” he said in a statement to CNN. “Funding from the Shelter and Services Program (SSP) allows Catholic Charities and other organizations in my city of San Antonio to provide basic immigrant services without straining local resources. Asylum seekers are fleeing some of the worst violence and oppression we can imagine, and no one wants to see them sleeping on the streets.”
Courtesy of Catholic Charities of San Antonio
Catholic Charities operates an Immigrant Resource Center in San Antonio.
While San Antonio Philanthropies is still waiting to find out how much funding it will receive this fiscal year, its CEO Antonio Fernandez visited Washington, D.C., in early April to receive FEMA petitioned for additional funding. But even if the funding comes in time to keep the center open 24 hours a day, the nonprofit expects it will have to discontinue services and possibly cut staff. That could take longer to process new arrivals and threaten the safety of the hundreds of people temporarily staying at the welcome center.
“We can’t function like we did last year,” Fernandez said, adding that he plans to ask the city of San Antonio for help. “Even if we could get funding for a 20% cut, we would have to cut services. If we have a surge in immigration, it’s going to be a difficult situation.”
With the number of migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border at or near record levels, cities and counties are now scrambling to figure out how to deal with FEMA funding cuts. Immigrants are released from federal custody after a thorough vetting process, and then go through the immigration court process, where an immigration judge decides whether they can remain in the United States or be deported.
In 2023, FEMA funds were sent to Atlanta. Chicago; New York City; Albuquerque, New Mexico. Cities such as Laredo, Texas;I also went to Counties such as Riverside County, California, and Pima County, Arizona, are participating, as well as numerous religious organizations and nonprofit organizations, including Catholic Charities in multiple cities, multiple food banks, and United Way in multiple locations.
Local governments and states across the country are currently being affected, in part because Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has been busing people to Democratic-led northern cities in recent years.
The funding cuts also come as Senate Republicans are blocking a bipartisan border agreement that would give the president the power to curb the entry of illegal immigrants at the southern border.
The Department of Homeland Security, which oversees FEMA, said the agency will release more information in the coming weeks to help communities and organizations apply for the $650 million in funds. But that’s not enough.
A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson told CNN, “Due to significant demand that exceeds the limited SSP program funding authorized by Congress, we are unable to meet all requests.” “That’s why we continue to call on Congress to pass a bipartisan border security agreement that will be part of the additional $1.4 billion in SSP funding.”
Mark Ritacco, chief government affairs officer for the National Association of Counties, said lawmakers’ decisions to cut budgets don’t meet needs.
“The reduction in SSP grant appropriations will likely require counties to divert resources from other programs,” he said, adding that counties will likely need to divert resources from other programs to include law enforcement, emergency services, health care and parks. , pointed out that they provide services such as hygiene.
Mesa, Arizona, Mayor John Giles is preparing to ask the city’s churches and nonprofits to help load busloads of migrants who will be dropped off by U.S. Customs and Border Protection en route to other locations. ing. The city would need to consider options such as tapping into general funds or reducing assistance to asylum seekers.
“The idea that cutting funding in a time of crisis is somehow rational is utter nonsense,” said Giles, who chairs the U.S. Conference of Mayors’ Immigration Reform Task Force. “I can’t imagine the answer is to turn our backs on this situation. But apparently that’s what the federal government is encouraging us to do.”
San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg said he wants more funding to help immigrants, not less. She requested additional funding during President Joe Biden’s March visit to Texas, and last year sent a letter to San Antonio’s congressional delegation and the Department of Homeland Security requesting an additional $57.5 million for the Migrant Resource Center. Ta.
Carlos Kocienski/Sipa via AP/FILE
The Immigrant Resource Center opened in July 2022 as a temporary location for immigrants traveling to San Antonio.
It is not yet known how much money the city will receive from the FEMA program, nor is it known how many migrants will pass through San Antonio. Officials have begun discussing contingency plans in case aid is not needed.
“Instead of putting money into local funds that fund police, firefighters and street operations, we’re looking to use federal funds,” Nirenberg said, adding that the COVID-19 relief fund is an option. he pointed out.
CNN’s Priscilla Alvarez contributed to this report.
