Sign up for TPR Today, Texas Public Radio's newsletter that brings our top stories to your inbox each morning.
The Trump administration opened up another theater in its war on communities that help migrants.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) sent letters, first obtained by the Associated Press, to nonprofits and cities — including San Antonio — suggesting they violated human smuggling laws.
Acting FEMA administrator Cameron Hamilton asked for the names of migrants who were helped. It raised concerns these organizations and local governments had induced migrants to come, enter or reside in the United States.
The noncompliance letter said it was withholding more than $13 million from San Antonio in grant funding to feed and house recent arrivals — largely through the Migrant Resource Center, which it set up with Catholic Charities of San Antonio in 2022. The center planned to close the 700-bed facility last month.
City officials said the closure was planned because there had been fewer migrant clients rather than because of statements by the Trump administration around attacking so-called “sanctuary cities.”
FEMA has allocated more than $45 million in grants to the region, according to its website, explicitly to house and serve migrants.
The city of San Antonio has said it will provide the information requested, and it noted the letter cited no specific allegations against the Migrant Resource Center or the city.
The Migrant Resource Center was only used by migrants who had been processed by DHS, according to a city official.
Catholic Charities did not respond to TPR's requests for comment.
