CHICAGO—Shorted by millions of dollars the federal government promised them for services to resettle migrants seeking asylum, the cities of Chicago, Phoenix, Tucson, and Denver have marched into federal court in Chicago and sued President Donald Trump’s regime for the cash.
Their case is critical because Trump had his Homeland Security Secretary, Kristi Noem, unconstitutionally stop funds Congress had already allotted.
Lawmakers, not presidents, control the power of the purse, the four cities contend, citing Article I of the U.S. Constitution. They also remind the court of Article II, which mandates the president “shall take care that the laws be faithfully executed.” Trump isn’t doing that, the four cities’ leaders declare.
“We made a commitment to the people of Chicago that we would resist any and all attempts by this administration to steal funds that belong to the people of Chicago,” stated Mayor Brandon Johnson, a former Chicago Teachers Union member and organizer.
“We will not roll over or lie down in the face of tyranny. Whether it’s funding for education, housing, health care, or emergency management, we will utilize every tool we have to go after what is rightfully ours,” Johnson said after the May 16 court filing.
“The actions by the federal government are unconstitutional,” declared Chicago Corporation Counsel Mary Richardson-Lowry. “The United States Constitution assigns Congress the responsibility to enact laws and appropriate funds, while requiring the president to execute those laws.”
Though Chicago has lost the most money so far due to the denial of repayments—close to $50 million—an obvious impact occurred in Tucson. It lost $12 million and had to close a shelter for migrants on the city’s Southwest side. Denver lost $24 million, and Phoenix lost $10.46 million.
The U.S. government “needs to make good on what they owe our community,” Pima County (Tucson) Attorney Laura Conover said in a statement. “While the Department of Homeland Security may not think $12 million is a big deal, it would be a tremendous loss for our community. We believe this cost should be borne by the federal government as approved by Congress, not Pima County taxpayers.”
“Denver responded to this crisis, that we neither created nor asked for, to prevent thousands of families from living on our streets in the cold, maintain public safety, and ensure the city continued to run smoothly,” Jon Ewing, the mayor’s Communications Director, said in a release.
The cities were forced to house tens of thousands of migrants starting in 2019. The Biden administration’s Department of Homeland Security, following lawmakers’ will, reimbursed them. Tucson accepted them “to protect public health and safety,” the county board president told the press. The money arrived regularly until late February this year. Then it stopped.
The tens of thousands of transplanted migrants also include people who arrive in Texas and who Republican Gov. Greg Abbott loaded onto buses and planes and sent them to Chicago. Abbott transported 50,000 people, without a penny to their names, at O’Hare Airport. The Texan flew another 40,000 migrants to Denver, all at Texas taxpayer expense.
More recently, New York City Mayor Eric Adams flip-flopped on welcoming migrants—despite a city ordinance mandating it. Trump’s Justice Department soon dropped federal fraud charges against Adams. Adams, too, started flying and busing migrants to Chicago.
“Since the first Trump administration, Congress appropriated funds to reimburse non-federal entities for costs incurred helping migrants whom DHS processed and released into the United States,” the four cities said. “Congress continued this bipartisan support in 2022 by enacting the Shelter and Services Program, appropriating funds for that purpose and requiring the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to administer it.”
Then, after one of Trump’s dictates, the “Protecting the American People Against Invasion” executive order, FEMA stopped. However, the law establishing the program said FEMA was supposed to respond to documented, approved grant requests by sending out the funds within 30 days.
When the money didn’t show up within a month of their latest request, Pima County officials called Trump’s FEMA to find out what was going on. The answer was “we’ll get back to you,” but no one ever did. One news story says no one can: Trump’s and Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) reportedly fired all the workers monitoring the grant requests.
“President Trump and his political allies have increasingly spread misinformation about the Shelter and Services Program, beginning even before the November 2024 election,” the cities’ suit said,
“In October 2024, then-candidate Trump accused the Biden Administration of ‘stealing the FEMA money like they stole it from a bank so they could give it to their illegal immigrants that they want to have vote for them this season.’
“Candidate Trump’s running mate, current Vice President JD Vance, followed suit. Vance falsely claimed in October 2024 that the Shelter and Services Program constituted an unlawful theft of disaster relief funds from deserving Americans to bankroll ‘illegal’ immigration. Vance stated: ‘I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that our own government is sending billions of dollars to illegal aliens.’”
“My hope is…the federal government would no longer…as President Trump has promised the American people, facilitate an illegal alien invasion,” Trump’s Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem told senators.
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