DENVER — The Trump administration has rescinded $24 million in federal grants promised to the City of Denver, following through on a threat to withhold funding over the city's sheltering of newly arrived immigrants.
Denver7 first reported on the threat in March. During a Department of Finance presentation to the Denver City Council on Monday, it was publicly confirmed that the city will not be reimbursed millions of dollars.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) terminated three Shelter and Services Program grants, which totaled roughly $32 million. During Monday's meeting, Budget Director Justin Sykes said only about $7 million to $8 million has been received, meaning the remaining amount of roughly $24 million will not be reimbursed to the city.
It's one of the largest grants the city has been monitoring, according to Sykes.
In a letter dated April 1, a FEMA official wrote, "The Department, consistent with President Trump's direction, is focused on advancing the essential mission of enforcing immigration laws and securing the border." As a result, "grant programs that support, or have the potential to support, illegal immigration through funding illegal activities or support for illegal aliens that is not consistent with DHS's enforcement do not effectuate the agency's current priorities."
- Read the full letter from FEMA below
Sykes said the city typically uses $100 million to $200 million worth of grants each year, with a "vast majority" being federal grants.
"The city does not have the capacity, if all of that federal funding were to go away, to backfill it. And so, that is another risk that we are carefully monitoring and very concerned about," Sykes told the councilmembers. "There have been several grant terminations. The federal government will have to pass a new budget for its fiscal year that would start in October, and so, we don't have a lot of answers. That's something we're concerned about and continuing to monitor."
Since late 2022, Denver has served 42,911 newcomers.
The conversation with Denver City Council came on the same day as a new executive order from President Donald Trump that asks Attorney General Pam Bondi and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem to compile a list of states and local jurisdictions that "obstruct federal immigration laws." The order calls such locations "sanctuary jurisdictions," and the goal is to bring them "into compliance" with the federal government when it comes to immigration.
As part of the order, federal funds like grants and contracts that are given to sanctuary jurisdictions can be identified for suspension or termination.
Four Democratic mayors, including Denver Mayor Mike Johnston, were called to testify before Congress in March about their so-called "sanctuary cities."
Denver has never officially called itself a sanctuary city. It was given that title under President Trump's first administration.
In 2017, the first Trump administration asked for "sanctuary cities," including Denver, to help U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and its crackdown on immigration. In response, then-Mayor Michael Hancock signed an executive order that created a legal defense fund for people threatened with or in removal proceedings and ordered the Denver Sheriff Department, which operates the city's jail, not to seek federal funding that required the department to gather and release information about a person’s immigration or citizenship status.
In response to the executive order, a spokesperson for Colorado Governor Jared Polis said, "Colorado is not a sanctuary state, and Governor Polis has been clear that when it comes to criminal investigations or prosecutions, local law enforcement should be working with federal partners, in accordance with state and federal law, to fight crime. Governor Polis continues urging Congress to do their jobs to secure our border and pass comprehensive immigration reform.”
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