Homeland Security gives over $70 million to cities taking in migrants

$77 million is being given out through Shelter and Service program
This builds on $290 million announced in June, total now $770 million
Some lawmakers have criticized the distribution of funds

NEW YORK, NEW YORK – JULY 31: Hundreds of recently arrived migrants to New York City, left, wait outside of the Roosevelt Hotel, which has been made into a reception center, as they try to secure temporary housing on July 31, 2023 in New York City. The migrants, many from Central America and Africa, have been sleeping on the streets or at other shelters as the city continues to struggle with the influx of migrants whose numbers have surged this spring and summer. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

(NewsNation) — The Department of Homeland Security announced Monday about $77 million more in grants is set to go to organizations helping support migrants in “border and interior communities” nationwide.

Money will be given to 53 grant recipients for temporary shelter, and other eligible costs, associated with housing migrants going through immigration proceedings, DHS said in a news release.

The funds can only be used for noncitizen migrants within 45 days of being released from DHS custody.

This money adds on the more than $290 million that were previously provided through FEMA’s Shelter and Services Program in June, meaning total funding allocated is more than $770 million.

Some of the largest distributions of that $290 million went to the New York City Office of Management and Budget, the Illinois Department of Human Services and San Diego County.

Lawmakers in border states, like Arizona, criticized the fact that non-border cities and states are getting some of this funding. Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema previously said she is “livid” communities in her state are getting less than cities far from the U.S./Mexico border.

New York City, for instance, got $104,678,007 of the $290 million, while Arizona received $69.4 million, even as the state’s Yuma sector is among the busiest right now.

However, New York City officials still say the money they are getting is not enough — it has already spent $1.73 billion providing care to more than 100,000 migrants since April 2022, with another $5 billion expected this fiscal year.

Fabien Levy, press secretary for the office of New York Mayor Eric Adams, has expressed the need for more support in the past.

“None of this is ideal. None of this is even good. We’re barely scraping by,” he said.

Men, women and children have been sleeping on the sidewalk outside of Midtown Manhattan’s Roosevelt Hotel after the makeshift intake center for asylum seekers, and temporary housing for migrant families, hit capacity. This situation, Adams warned, could worsen as the city struggles to find space for migrants.

Adams has partially blamed Texas Gov. Greg Abbott for the number of migrants coming into the area, after Abbott bussed migrants to the Northeast in protest of the Biden administration’s immigration policies. There are migrants NewsNation has spoken to, though, who say they were going to New York regardless of Abbott’s actions.

So far this year, 69 entities both in and outside of the Southwest border have gotten funding through the Shelter and Services Program SSP and the Emergency Food and Shelter Program – Humanitarian Awards.

This story is developing. Refresh for updates.