The Metropolis of New York filed a lawsuit Friday in opposition to the federal authorities to reclaim $80 million the Federal Emergency Administration Company clawed again that was meant to cowl lodge prices for migrants, in response to courtroom paperwork.
The go well with, NYC v. Trump, names President Donald Trump, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Homeland Safety Secretary Kristi Noem, among the many checklist of defendants.
“On Tuesday, February ll , 2025, at 4:03 pm, the long arm of the federal government reached into a central bank account of the City of New York (the “Metropolis”) and grabbed $80,481,86L.42. It took these funds from the City without any advance notice that it would be doing so and without communicating any decision or rationale to the City,” the go well with states.
The lawsuit alleges Trump is “responsible for the actions and decisions” and is being sued in his official capability as president.
Town filed the go well with in U.S. District Court docket within the Southern District of New York.
Earlier in February, FEMA clawed again the cash, escalating a dispute between the Trump administration and the nation’s largest metropolis over cash for sheltering migrants. A federal choose mentioned he wouldn’t cease FEMA from reclaiming the funds.
Gone was a $59 million grant that the administration challenged and one other award for $21.5 million, Metropolis Comptroller Brad Lander mentioned on the time. The cash was found to be lacking in a single day, and Lander mentioned nobody in his workplace had been conscious that the federal authorities had entry to the town’s checking account.
Mayor Eric Adams, a Democrat, mentioned metropolis officers had contacted the White Home about getting again the cash, and had been exploring authorized choices. Adams had mentioned he would focus on the matter with President Trump’s border czar, Tom Homan, after they met in New York final week.
It was the primary huge check for Adams’ relationship with Trump’s workforce after the U.S. Justice Division directed federal prosecutors in Manhattan to drop corruption fees in opposition to the mayor, with a high official saying the administration needed Adams free to assist the Republican president’s immigration agenda.
The grants had been utilized for and awarded throughout the administration of Democratic President Joe Biden however weren’t disbursed till this month, the town mentioned.
Quickly after, Trump adviser Elon Musk flagged $59 million in funds, writing on X that his so-called Division of Authorities Effectivity had found the cash was used to accommodate migrants in “luxury hotels.” Musk gave no proof to help his declare.
Within the final two years, New York Metropolis has leased a number of finances lodges and different vacant buildings, turning them into migrant shelters.
FEMA’s performing administrator mentioned in courtroom paperwork filed in February that the cash was being clawed again over issues about “illegal activities” at a lodge.
Lander questioned whether or not the transfer was authorized, saying he had by no means seen a case the place somebody was “approved to come back into your financial institution accounts and take it again due to shifting political winds.”
That is “the primary vital check of whether or not we nonetheless have impartial management at Metropolis Corridor,” mentioned Lander, an Adams critic who’s difficult him in June’s Democratic main.
White Home press secretary Karoline Leavitt advised at a briefing that the administration felt paying for lodges for migrants within the metropolis was not a worthy expense whereas FEMA offers with pricey disasters elsewhere.
Homeland Safety Secretary Kristi Noem wrote on X that she “has clawed back the full payment that FEMA deep state activists unilaterally gave to NYC migrant hotels.”
A federal choose dominated the administration may proceed efforts to withhold the FEMA cash from the town. U.S. District Decide John McConnell in Rhode Island mentioned that cash was not topic to an order, nonetheless in impact, geared toward stopping an administration pause on federal funding.
The federal government fired 4 workers whom the Division of Homeland Safety claimed circumvented management to make the transactions. Such funds have been normal for years by way of a program that helps with prices to take care of a surge in migration.
A lot of the former lodges leased by the town are occupied by households with kids. None can be thought of “luxury” by most traveler requirements.
Town additionally started leasing the constructing that after housed the Roosevelt Lodge as an consumption middle for migrants in search of metropolis providers in 2023, after it closed in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic. That lodge has a grand previous, although within the years earlier than its closure it was an reasonably priced choice for vacationers to the town.
Below metropolis regulation, New York should provide shelter to anybody who wants it, and on the time the common homeless shelter system was overwhelmed with new arrivals. The lodge now serves as each a spot the place migrants should go to use for providers and as a short lived shelter for a whole bunch of households who can keep for less than 60 days.
The Shelter and Providers Program, with cash coming from Congress and administered by FEMA, has change into a flashpoint for criticism by Republicans, who incorrectly declare it’s taking funds from folks hit by hurricanes or floods.
