Nonborder cities among groups getting DHS migrant aid

The Shelter and Services Program allocates a total of $363.8 million
$291.04 million are going to places including New York City and Illinois
An additional $72.8 million will be distributed later this year

Updated: Jun 14, 2023 / 05:40 PM CDT

A group of people board a Chicago Transit Authority bus before being taken to a Salvation Army after arriving on a bus with other migrants from Texas at Union Station, Wednesday, Aug. 31, 2022, in Chicago. The immigrants are being bused from Texas as part of a strategy launched by TexasGov. Greg Abbott this year to share the influx of people from outside the United States with liberal cities. (Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune via AP)

(NewsNation) — The U.S. Department of Homeland Security awarded more than $291 million to state and local organizations nationwide to help support migrants who are encountered and released from DHS.

The funds are provided through FEMA’s Shelter and Services Program to help provide shelter and other services to migrants upon their release.

The program allocates a total of $363.8 million. Of that, $291.04 million is available now to the first tranche’s 34 recipients.

Some of the largest distributions will go to the New York City Office of Management and Budget, the Illinois Department of Human Services and San Diego County.

An additional $72.8 million will be distributed later this year, according to the federal agency’s website.

Nonborder cities such as Chicago, New York and Denver have been struggling to find space to house an influx of asylum-seekers.

A recent report showed that migrant arrivals could cost Denver tens of millions of dollars. Chicago — much like New York — also proposed plans to use schools as temporary shelters for migrants.

The funds can only be used for noncitizen migrants within 45 days of their release from DHS. Acceptable uses of the money include: