The Biden administration announced last week that it would provide $380 million to nonprofit organizations and local governments to help cover some of the costs of caring for migrants released by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) at the southern border.
The huge amount of funding will be provided by the Department of Homeland Security through the Shelter Services Program (SSP), which aims to provide “critical assistance” to immigrants awaiting immigration court hearings by providing food, shelter, clothing, emergency medical care, and transportation.
DHS said the funding will help prevent overcrowding in Customs and Border Protection's (CBP) short-term holding facilities and allow non-federal agencies to “offset allowable costs incurred for services related to non-citizen immigrants arriving in their communities.”
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Migrants heading north toward the U.S. border walk along a highway in Suchiate, Chiapas, southern Mexico, on Sunday, July 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Edgar H. Clemente)
The $380 million in grant funding comes just four months after the agency distributed $259.13 million in SSP grant funding, bringing the total for this year to about $640 million.
More than $780 million has been awarded in fiscal year 2023 to organizations and cities across the country that are overflowing with immigrants with no place to live or work.
The influx of migrants has overwhelmed social and health services in many major cities, forcing local governments to use taxpayer money to house migrants in hotels and shelters. Under Biden, the number of encounters with migrants is expected to exceed 2.4 million in fiscal year 2023 and could surpass that figure by the end of fiscal year 2024, though the Department of Homeland Security has said monthly numbers are declining.
The $380 million in grant funding will be distributed to a total of 50 nonprofit organizations, local governments and government agencies.
The largest beneficiary of the allocation will be sanctuary city New York City, which will receive about $22.17 million through its Office of the Administrator, while Los Angeles will receive $21.84 million and Arizona will receive $19.25 million.
Maricopa and Pima counties in Arizona are splitting about $38 million in funding.
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Migrants are seen at the southern border on May 23, 2024. (Bill Melgin/Fox News)
As for nonprofits, Jewish Family Services of San Diego will receive $22.1 million, Catholic Charities of San Diego will receive $21.6 million and Catholic Charities Archdiocese of San Antonio in Texas will receive $19.26 million.
Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey praised her state for setting aside $15.4 million in competitive funding and $4.9 million in reserve funds.
“Massachusetts has 'earned' $20 million in federal funding to help with the costs of family shelters,” Healey's Aug. 28 press release stated.
“This is the largest award Massachusetts has ever received from this program, with the state and city having received a total of $9 million to date.”
Healey said the funding will help Boston manage the costs of sheltering migrants and praised the Biden-Harris administration for reducing illegal border crossings.
“In light of Congress' inaction, the Biden-Harris Administration has taken significant steps to address this federal issue, and we are seeing results, including a significant reduction in illegal border crossings,” Healey said in a statement. “But more work needs to be done. Congress must go further to pass a bipartisan border security agreement.”
Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey stopped to look at Army cots set up on the gym floor as state and local officials toured the Melnea A. Cass Recreation Complex, which was used as a temporary migrant shelter in May 2024. (Getty Images)
According to DHS, Border Patrol encounters in July were down 32% compared to June, marking the lowest monthly total along the Southwest border since September 2020. July's totals between ports of entry were also lower than July 2019 and lower than the monthly average for all of 2019, the last comparable year before the pandemic, DHS said.
The agency said the decrease follows President Biden's June 4 presidential proclamation to temporarily suspend the entry of certain foreign nationals at the southern border if border encounters exceed a seven-day daily average of 2,500.
But the Homeland Security funding won't fill the gaping hole in the city's finances, ravaged by illegal immigration.
Massachusetts Republican lawmakers are calling on Governor Healey to provide a detailed breakdown of the cost of the migrant crisis to state residents, accusing the state of “secretly spending on the migrant crisis.”
The New York State Comptroller estimated that the migrant crisis will cost state taxpayers $4.3 billion through 2025 and New York City taxpayers $3 billion in 2024 alone. New York Post.
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It also doesn't take into account the $4 billion the Biden administration announced in March it would send to Central America to “address the root causes” of illegal migration.
meanwhile, One study According to a study by the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), the net cost of illegal immigration to the United States at the federal, state and local levels is estimated to be at least $150.7 billion by the beginning of 2023.
FAIR calculated this figure by subtracting just under $32 billion in tax revenue paid by illegal immigrants from the total negative economic impact of illegal immigration, estimated at $182 billion.
