Mass job cuts at UA's writing program 🗞️ City Council keeps biting hand that fed it + More local news in @TucsonSentinel's Watchdog Update - https://mailchi.mp/tucsonsentinel/052325_ua_writing (fb)

Pima County, along with officials in Denver and Chicago, filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration Friday for withholding funds owed for operating shelters for migrants who were released by federal authorities. In mid-March, an official from the Federal Emergency Management Agency sent a letter to the county, stating the agency would "temporarily" withhold payments for the Shelter and Services Program — a congressionally approved effort that sent more than $117 million in federal funds to help the county shelter around 518,00 asylum seekers over the last several years, including families with children. The form letter was sent to dozens of local governments and organizations informing them of the funding hold while announcing the Trump administration would "investigate" whether officials violated federal law by "harboring" asylum seekers who were processed by immigration officials and released to pursue their legal cases. As part of the review, FEMA demanded officials provide personal information on each migrant, which officials called a "red herring" and said the demand "largely duplicates what plaintiffs have already provided to FEMA." Since then, FEMA officials have refused to pay reimbursements, leaving Pima County on the hook for around $10 million, said Pima County Administrator Jan Lesher earlier this year. FEMA is part of the Department of Homeland Security under Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem. Pima County, along with officials in Denver and Chicago, filed their lawsuit in the Northern District of Illinois, arguing FEMA's decision violates the Constitution by usurping Congress' ability to enact and fund programs, and said FEMA's demand for an investigation into the spending was "absurd" and a "pretext" to cover the Trump administration's animus toward the shelter program. "In 2019, during the first Trump administration, the federal government began awarding these funds to the county and we accepted them to ensure public health and safety," said Pima County Board Chair Rex Scott. "Acting as an earnest partner in this endeavor, we then provided sheltering services in good faith. We relied on these congressionally appropriated funds and adhered to every regulation and law." "Now, under the second Trump administration, the federal government is suddenly changing the rules while sending confusing communications about reimbursement requirements along with arbitrary response deadlines for ambiguous and conflicting demands, and is then non-responsive for months about whether they’re going to comply with federal law," Scott said. GET THE DETAILS from Tucson Sentinel senior reporter Paul Ingram: (fb)