NYC to sue Trump administration over effort to pull $188M owed for migrants

New York City will sue the administration of President Donald Trump on Tuesday over another recent effort to pull $188 million in migrant shelter funding allocated to the city.  

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) sent a letter to the city on April 1 informing them that they plan to terminate three grants under the Shelter and Services Program, which is for migrants. Those grants total $188 million in all, money the Trump administration said was being spent to support illegal immigration.

The grants are part of a program approved by Congress and administered by FEMA that is intended to help local governments and nongovernmental organizations provide shelter and other social services for migrants.

In his letter to city officials, FEMA's acting director, Cameron Hamilton, wrote that the grant program is inconsistent with Trump administration priorities and that “individuals receiving these services often have no legal status and are in the United States unlawfully.”

It was not immediately clear whether the city’s lawsuit would be separate from or added to the previous suit the administration of NYC Mayor Eric Adams filed over the clawback of $80 million earlier in 2025.

The latest move would require the city to return an additional $106 million that officials said was used to house and care for migrants.

"Like their previous actions clawing back appropriated funds, these steps are unlawful, and the New York City Law Department is currently determining the best legal recourse to take to ensure that this money remains in New York City, where it was allocated and belongs," Adams said in a statement.

"As I have repeatedly said, New York City did not create this crisis — it was caused by decades of federal inaction and failure to pass comprehensive immigration reform," he continued. "Yet, New Yorkers — and residents of other major cities across the country — have been forced to pay the price."

In February, the city filed a lawsuit challenging the Trump administration's seizing of more than $80 million.

New York City, as it at one point absorbed thousands of migrants each week, leased hotels and other vacant buildings and used them as emergency shelters. The city, under a unique legal agreement, is required to provide shelter to anyone who asks for it, though officials worked to impose limits on the requirement as the city struggled to handle the influx.

Among the facilities leased by the city was the midtown Manhattan building that once housed the historic Roosevelt Hotel, which was converted to a shelter and an arrival center for migrants to sign up for social services.

The city's use of the Roosevelt drew heavy criticism from Republicans and federal officials, who said the building had become a hotbed of gang activity and used that claim to justify the clawing back of the $80 million FEMA grant. The city, in its lawsuit over the funding, said the claim was unsubstantiated.

The mayor has said that the city will cease operations at the Roosevelt and more than 50 other migrant shelters by June because arrivals have plummeted and migrants have been moved to other housing and communities.

Adams has been under intense pressure to prove his political independence from the Trump administration after the Department of Justice pushed to toss his federal corruption case so he could help with the Republican president's immigration crackdown.

A federal judge dismissed the charges last week.

At a news conference Tuesday, Adams, a Democrat who is running for reelection as an independent, praised some of the Trump administration's immigration policies but added that “we're going to fight for every penny” related to migrant costs.

Anthony Izaguirre of The Associated Press contributed to this report.