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When It Comes to D.E.I. and ICE, Trump Is Using Federal Grants as Leverage

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When It Comes to D.E.I. and ICE, Trump Is Using Federal Grants as Leverage

During President Trump’s first months in office, officials in his administration have used the threat of withholding federal funding to bend institutions and municipalities to their ideological will.

That strategy shows no signs of abating.

The Department of Homeland Security is reviewing billions of dollars in grants for cities and states to make sure recipients comply with Mr. Trump’s priorities on immigration enforcement and diversity programs.

Now grant beneficiaries must “honor requests for cooperation, such as participation in joint operations, sharing of information or requests for short-term detention of an alien pursuant to a valid detainer,” according to the terms and conditions for grants distributed by the department.

The terms and conditions, which were first released last October and quietly updated in late March, also mandate that those who receive grants “will provide access to detainees, such as when an immigration officer seeks to interview a person who might be a removable alien.”

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“I see it as the beginning of the reshaping of our national emergency management infrastructure,” said Mark Ghilarducci, who previously served as California’s state emergency services director. “Now it will be based upon ideology versus what is the actual need.”

The changes likely imperil tens of billions of dollars in grants to states and cities that have rules limiting cooperation with officials from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he said.

The review of the federal grants is the latest reminder that Mr. Trump does not view federal funding to bolster police departments or help communities recover from disasters as support that comes without strings attached. Instead, he uses federal grants as leverage against state and local governments to ensure compliance with his political agenda.

One criterion is whether certain locales are sanctuary jurisdictions, which broadly refers to cities and counties that block their local jails from cooperating with federal immigration officials.

ICE prefers to pick up undocumented immigrants from local lockups, but in order to do so, it needs collaboration from county sheriffs. In some cities and counties, this collaboration is outright blocked or severely limited.

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Peter Gaynor, who served as FEMA administrator and briefly as acting U.S. secretary of homeland security during Mr. Trump’s first term, saw these changes as in line with the priorities the president has set out.

“This is the way they are going to operate,” Mr. Gaynor said. “The administration is going to, from time to time, check you to make sure that you’re compliant with the federal grant guidance.”

“You don’t have to accept the money,” he added. “You can decline the money. I think that’s part of the formula here.”

California and some of its cities and counties have laws against cooperating with ICE. Now local governments and community organizations are at risk of losing billions of dollars because of the change in D.H.S. policy, said Brian Ferguson, a spokesman for the state’s governor, Gavin Newsom.

The department normally provides grants that support a variety of public safety services, including police, fire and emergency response as well as programs to prevent domestic violence and sexual assault.

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“These are grants that are critical to prepare for the next disaster and help keep communities safe,” Mr. Ferguson said.

It is unknown exactly how much money is at risk in California or which cities, counties or community groups may lose grants, he said.

“Like much of the work that’s happening at the federal level, we’re working to understand what exactly it means on an implementation level,” Mr. Ferguson said.

Officials in New York and other states expressed similar fears and uncertainty. The office of Attorney General Letitia James of New York was aware of the updated guidance and reviewing it. Like in California, billions of dollars in grants could be on the chopping block.

Officials with the Federal Emergency Management Agency have already identified nearly $1 billion in funding they think should be cut and another almost $4 billion that is being reviewed, according to a memo reviewed by The New York Times.

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Some funding — like $80 million from FEMA to New York City for migrant shelters — was clawed back this winter. The money for these beds came from FEMA’s Shelter and Services Program. Now federal officials want to cancel about $887 million in grants from that program.

Tricia McLaughlin, a spokeswoman for the Department of Homeland Security, said that the homeland security secretary, Kristi Noem, “has directed FEMA to implement additional controls to ensure that all grant money going out is consistent with law and does not go to fraud, waste or abuse.”

“The open borders gravy train is over, and there will not be a single penny spent that goes against the interest and safety of the American people,” Ms. McLaughlin added.

Another program under review involves nearly $2 billion in grants to law enforcement agencies, cities and states to help themselves prepare and respond to terrorist attacks. In the fiscal year ending in October, entities in New York received close to $320 million from this program.

Avi Small, the press secretary for Gov. Kathy Hochul of New York, pointed out in a statement that “the federal government has issued multiple orders, directives and guidance that were later overturned in court or rescinded by the administration.”

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“We have received this guidance, which could have significant fiscal impacts for disaster relief and other critical state functions, and are assessing our options moving forward,” he added.

Last week, the New York State Education Department said it would not go along with the Trump administration’s threats to pull federal funding from public schools over certain diversity, equity and inclusion programs. The updated terms and conditions from D.H.S. for grantees includes new requirements in this area as well.

During Mr. Trump’s first term, his administration fought in court to withhold millions of dollars from law enforcement agencies in states and cities that did not cooperate with his immigration agenda. A federal judge ultimately overturned the executive order issued by Mr. Trump that withheld federal funding to sanctuary jurisdictions.

After wildfires erupted in California in 2018, Mr. Trump said on social media that he had ordered FEMA to “send no more money” unless the state changed its approach to forest management.

Mr. Trump has threatened on multiple occasions to withhold money from California, including earlier this year as parts of Los Angeles were ravaged by wildfires. He said that he would help but that he first wanted the state to impose voter identification laws and change its environmental policies.

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On Friday, Trump officials were admonished by a federal judge for not complying with an order the judge had issued in early March to unfreeze billions in FEMA funds in at least 19 states. The Times reported last month that freezing of funds had caused chaos for state, local and nonprofits officials who were trying to respond to natural disasters.

Judge John J. McConnell Jr. of the Federal District Court in Rhode Island said on Friday that he thought the funding hold was a “covert” means to punish places with laws that prohibit cooperation with immigration officials.

“Trump has declared war against the American economy and our allies around the world,” said Jason Elliott, who previously served as Mr. Newsom’s deputy chief of staff. “Now American states, with millions of people who voted for him, are the target of his war against common sense.

“His funding threats against states, for nothing but political purposes, will directly harm millions of red voters in those purple and blue states.”

Laurel Rosenhall contributed reporting from Sacramento.

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Video: Protesters Clash with Federal Agents Outside ICE Detention Center in New Jersey

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Video: Protesters Clash with Federal Agents Outside ICE Detention Center in New Jersey

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Protesters Clash with Federal Agents Outside ICE Detention Center in New Jersey

Protesters and immigration agents clashed outside Delaney Hall detention center in Newark, where activists have gathered for days to denounce conditions inside.

“Get back!” “Get back, get back, get back, get back, get back!” [chanting] “ICE, ICE has got to go. Hey, hey, ho, ho.” “We’ve heard repeatedly about these horror stories of pregnant women not getting access to care, of people with injuries not being treated. People shouldn’t have to starve themselves to make their dignity known.” “Down, down with the degradation.” “Down, down with the degradation.”

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Protesters and immigration agents clashed outside Delaney Hall detention center in Newark, where activists have gathered for days to denounce conditions inside.

By Christina Kelso

May 28, 2026

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How a Family of 4 Lives on $225,000 a Year in Washington Heights

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How a Family of 4 Lives on 5,000 a Year in Washington Heights

How can people possibly afford to live in one of the most expensive cities on the planet? It’s a question New Yorkers hear a lot, often delivered with a mix of awe, pity and confusion.

We surveyed hundreds of New Yorkers about how they spend, splurge and save. We found that many people — rich, poor or somewhere in between — live life as a series of small calculations that add up to one big question: What makes living in New York worth it?

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Ellen Hagan grew up in a small town in Kentucky, and moved to New York City as quickly as she could after she graduated from college. She arrived a few weeks before Sept. 11, and tried to get her bearings in a city turned upside down.

She found a group of fellow young artists and writers who wanted to take advantage of everything they could in the city, on very limited budgets. They went to poetry readings and dance parties, and rented tiny apartments in the East Village.

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All the while, Ms. Hagan was diligent about saving money, even when she had very little of it.

“I didn’t know what I was saving for, but I knew I wasn’t going to have a job that would give me a pension,” she said. “I wanted to make enough money to live the New York existence I was dreaming of.”

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Ellen Hagan learned to be diligent about saving money after she moved to New York.

Twenty-five years later, Ms. Hagan and her husband, David Flores, whom she started dating in her early years in New York, have much more money than they used to. Still, they feel more anxious about money than they hoped they would at this point in their lives.

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The couple both work at DreamYard, a Bronx arts nonprofit. Last year, they made $178,135 there collectively, with Ms. Hagan, 47, directing the poetry and theater programs, and Mr. Flores, also 47, serving as the head of visual art and design.

They typically bring in another $40,000 to $60,000 a year through their freelance work. Mr. Flores is an adjunct professor, a photographer and a filmmaker, and Ms. Hagan teaches at a graduate writing program and writes books and poetry. They try to set aside about 15 percent of their income each year to grow their savings.

The couple live in Washington Heights in Upper Manhattan with their two daughters, who are 12 and 15.

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Homeownership Doesn’t Solve Everything

As a young couple, Ms. Hagan and Mr. Flores lived in a 400-square-foot East Village rental. When their rent started to tick up, Ms. Hagan began looking for a place to buy, seeing homeownership as a buoy that would all but guarantee a secure financial life in New York.

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Sixteen years ago, the couple found a perfect apartment in Washington Heights and scrambled to cobble together a down payment. They pooled their savings to put a 15 percent down payment on the $335,000 home. Once they closed, they were left with only a few hundred dollars in savings, but were thrilled and relieved.

“I had this sense that when you buy, you’re set in New York City,” Ms. Hagan said.

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The reality, she has found, is more complicated.

The couple’s mortgage payment is $1,300 a month, and their maintenance fees keep rising, partially as a result of a new local law that requires increased inspections and repairs for buildings. Local Law 11 boosted their maintenance by $462 a month, at least temporarily, to about $1,900 total. And when the building’s management installed a new security system, each unit had to chip in $95 a month for three months.

Ms. Hagan loves the apartment, but she worries that they may eventually be priced out of their neighborhood.

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“This building isn’t going to be for us at some point,” she said. “This feels like, uh oh, they’re imagining people who have much higher incomes than we do.”

Keeping the Kids Busy

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Ms. Hagan and Mr. Flores, who each maintain packed calendars, have encouraged their daughters to adopt the same approach to city living.

“I’m definitely a proponent of, let’s fill your schedule and see what you love,” Ms. Hagan said.

The girls’ public school offers free debate and band classes before and after school, and they’ll appear this spring in the school’s productions of “Annie” and “The Addams Family.”

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The girls are also enrolled in a free theater academy at the People’s Theatre and writing workshops at Uptown Stories, which has a pay-what-you-can system. Ms. Hagan and Mr. Flores typically pay the full tuition, which is $800 for each 12-week session, and donate about $2,500 a year to the organizations their daughters are part of.

The couple’s older daughter, Araceli, who wants to be both a writer and a doctor, is enrolled in a medical training program for middle and high school students. She made $2,500 for completing an internship at a cardiothoracic intensive care unit last summer.

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Their younger daughter, Miriam, is going to a Y.M.C.A. camp this summer, which costs $2,600 for two weeks.

Ms. Hagan and Mr. Flores spent about $500 total on holiday gifts for both girls, and the couple doles out their daughters’ weekly allowances in two installments: $25 on Mondays and $25 on Fridays.

They shook their heads when Miriam, who is known as the most stylish member of the family, came home one day wearing a Dr Pepper T-shirt she’d bought at Target.

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“We were like, ‘What are you doing with your money?’” Ms. Hagan said.

The Fun Stuff

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The extra income from the couple’s freelance work allows the family to splurge on theater, vacations, books and memberships at the Museum of Modern Art and the Whitney Museum of American Art.

Sometimes, Ms. Hagan and Mr. Flores work together. A few years ago, they sold a young adult novel called “Tell Me Every Lie” they had co-written for a $35,000 advance, some of which went to their agent.

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Every little bit helps. The family is spending a weekend on Long Beach Island in New Jersey this summer, which will cost about $3,500. That price tag includes a hotel room big enough for four.

The family typically travels twice a year to Kentucky, where both Ms. Hagan and Mr. Flores are from, and where the couple co-owns a home in Louisville with Mr. Flores’s parents. They put $40,000 down and spend about $12,000 annually on expenses related to the home.

The family was hoping to travel to the Philippines this year, where Mr. Flores’s father is from, but they realized it could cost as much as $15,000. The trip is now on hold indefinitely.

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They spend about $700 a month on groceries from nearby supermarkets, and occasionally order grocery deliveries from FreshDirect.

Every Wednesday, when the girls come home late from theater class, someone picks up dinner at the nearby halal truck or the Dominican restaurant Malecon, which usually runs about $60.

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Dinner out as a family of four can easily cost $200, so Ms. Hagan and Mr. Flores typically eat at restaurants just once or twice a month. The other night, the whole family was hungry and craved Italian food from a favorite upscale spot nearby.

They balked, and walked around the corner to a diner instead. The meal was $120, all in.

We are talking to New Yorkers about how they spend, splurge and save.

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Gov. Sherrill Demands Access to ICE Facility as Hunger Strike Widens

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Gov. Sherrill Demands Access to ICE Facility as Hunger Strike Widens

Gov. Mikie Sherrill of New Jersey, a Democrat who has clashed with the Trump administration over immigration policies, joined protests outside a detention center in Newark on Monday in support of detainees participating in a hunger strike.

Ms. Sherrill heard from family members of detainees, who have complained about rotten and spoiled food and inadequate medical care at Delaney Hall. Dozens of protesters waved signs, banged on drums, and chanted “Free Them All!” The governor told the crowd she had requested access but was denied.

“No matter what your immigration status is, you shouldn’t be treated with anything less than dignity in this country,” said Ms. Sherrill, who was dressed in a T-shirt, jeans, and blue-gray jacket on the Memorial Day holiday. At one point, she rested her hand on the shoulder of a crying relative and smoothed the hair of an upset child.

After the governor left, the scene worsened outside the detention facility. A tense standoff erupted between Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents and protesters who blocked an entrance; the agents responded by firing pepper balls and spray at the protesters. Senator Andy Kim, who was trying to de-escalate the situation, was among those affected.

On Monday, the governor and other elected officials, including Mayor Ras J. Baraka of Newark, appeared outside Delaney Hall amid growing concerns over the hunger strike, which started on Friday inside the gray, cinder-block building enclosed by a high chain link fence topped with razor wire.

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Immigration advocates have rallied outside Delaney Hall since Friday. Detainees said they would go on a hunger and labor strike while calling for an investigation of the detention center and its operations and for Ms. Sherrill to visit to discuss protections from ICE. Hundreds of detainees were participating, one protester told Ms. Sherrill.

The governor said in a statement on Sunday that she had contacted ICE to gain access to the detention center and was working to monitor the situation and “do what’s necessary to ensure humane conditions.”

At Monday’s protest, some protesters shouted in Ms. Sherrill’s face to criticize her for not showing up earlier in the weekend, like other elected officials had.

Representative Rob Menendez of New Jersey had arrived at 8 p.m. on Sunday and stayed all night until he was allowed into the center on Monday morning. Mr. Menendez said that he had spoken to some of the detainees inside Delaney Hall, including a young woman who just wanted to go to her high school graduation, a pregnant woman who was trying to get medical care, and a man who showed him a carton of milk that had gone rancid.

“I heard just desperation from so many people in there,” Mr. Menendez said afterward.

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Angela Martinez told Ms. Sherrill that her cousin, Bolivar Bueno, 65, has diabetes and that she hasn’t been able to speak to him to make sure he is getting medication. “We don’t know what’s going on,” she told the governor.

Afterward, Ms. Martinez said, “I want for her to help me out.”

Ms. Sherrill left after about an hour, around 11:30 a.m., as some demonstrators jeered at her. Her security had to clear the road of a couple people who tried to stop her S.U.V. from leaving.

A few hours later, a convoy of ICE vehicles approached another entrance on the south side of Delaney Hall. Protesters, who had rallied at the north entrance in the morning, ran over to sit down in front of the vehicles. Many said they feared that the detainees on hunger strike inside would be transferred to other facilities.

ICE agents — most of whom were wearing face masks — pushed and shoved the protesters out of the way, even dragging one young man by a kaffiyeh around his neck. As the protesters chanted “Trump Has To Go,” they linked arms and faced the ICE agents.

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The standoff prevented anyone from leaving through the south entrance. Soon after, a military-style vehicle moved toward that entrance, with a man on top holding a firearm pointed at demonstrators.

Senator Kim, Democrat of New Jersey, who had been allowed inside Delaney Hall, came out during the confrontation and walked over to support the protesters. Soon afterward, the ICE agents and military vehicles backed away from the entrance and slightly retreated toward to the detention center, but the standoff continued.

“They provoked it, they brought that tank over,” Mr. Kim said. “It’s getting worse and worse here.”

The senator said he was working to “de-escalate” the standoff through negotiations with federal officials and would push for families to be allowed to visit detainees as early as Tuesday. “I’m going to keep at it,” he said.

Not long after, the standoff escalated with ICE agents using pepper balls and mace on the crowd.

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It’s not the first time Delaney Hall has faced protests. In June 2025, four men escaped from the detention center after days of unrest over meager and sporadic meals and overcrowding that forced some detainees to sleep on the floor. Detainees had smashed windows, doors and security cameras.

And Mr. Baraka, the Newark mayor, was arrested in May 2025 during a clash with federal agents outside its gates last year.

Dakota Santiago contributed reporting.

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