FEMA cut $242 million in security grants to Democratic-led states over immigration cooperation

On September 27, 2025, four days before the end of the federal fiscal year and without notice or explanation, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and FEMA cut Homeland Security Grant Program (HSGP) funding to a coalition of Democratic-led states and Washington, D.C. by $242 million — a 49 percent reduction from the roughly $492 million FEMA had previously told them to expect — and reallocated the difference to states the administration deemed more politically compliant [1][2]. The states' lawsuit said the affected states were being penalized for declining to divert law-enforcement resources to help enforce federal immigration law [1]. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem had separately said states with policies she opposed "should not receive a single dollar of the Department's money" [2].

New York's own allocation was cut by more than $100 million, a 77 percent reduction [4].

Updates

2025-09-29 — Twelve-jurisdiction coalition sued DHS [4]

New York Attorney General Letitia James, joined by attorneys general from California, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, and the District of Columbia, sued DHS, arguing the reallocation violated the statute authorizing HSGP and the Administrative Procedure Act.

2025-09-30 — Federal judge temporarily blocked the cuts [3]

Judge Mary McElroy of the U.S. District Court for the District of Rhode Island granted the coalition's request for a temporary restraining order blocking the reallocation, in the case Illinois v. Noem. Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul said the ruling blocked "this chaotic and illegal attempt to coerce states into compliance with the president's political agenda."

2025-12 — Court ordered the funding restored; DHS's appeal later failed [1]

The court granted the coalition's motion for summary judgment, ordering DHS to amend its HSGP awards to reflect the funding levels it had originally promised the states. DHS initially appealed the ruling, then dropped the appeal, ending the case.

2026-09-01 — New York says $87 million still had not been delivered [5][6]

Nearly a year after the original cuts, Governor Kathy Hochul and Mayor Zohran Mamdani said $87 million of the funding owed New York still had not arrived, warning it could affect the NYPD's counterterrorism unit, bomb squads, and other public-safety programs. "By holding this funding hostage, the Trump Administration is defunding the police," Hochul said [5].