Kelly & Gallego urge FEMA to pay Pima County for $9.7M spent sheltering asylum seekers

U.S. Sens. Mark Kelly and Ruben Gallego have demanded Trump administration officials stop withholding about $9.7 million owed to Pima County for sheltering migrants after their release by federal authorities.

Last year, an official with the Federal Emergency Management Agency told the county the agency would “temporarily” withhold payments for the Shelter and Services Program, implying local officials were “harboring” people in the country without authorization.

On Monday, the senators sent a letter to FEMA and said the agency — a part of the Department of Homeland Security — should reimburse Pima County and others in Arizona.

Their letter was address to Robert Fenton, the “Senior Official Performing the Duties of FEMA Administrator,” who became fourth person to lead the agency without congressional approval over the last eighteen months.

“Arizona local governments and service providers carried out this work in reliance of congressional appropriations, FEMA’s program rules, and the federal government’s commitment that eligible expenses would be reimbursed,” wrote Kelly and Gallego. “Failing to fulfill reimbursements to these partners risks undermining the trust needed for effective coordination in future emergencies.”

SSP was a congressionally approved effort that sent more than $117 million in federal funds to help Pima County shelter around 518,00 asylum seekers over the last several years, including families with children.

Pima County Administrator Jan Lesher told the Tucson Sentinel last March the county was owed nearly $10 million —
about $5.7 million that has already been invoiced to FEMA, and roughly
another $4.6 million that had yet to be submitted, which included bills
like utilities.

Dubbed Casa Alitas, Pima County began operating the shelter program in partnership with Catholic Community Services during the first Trump administration in 2019. After it became clear federal official stopped releasing legally-processed asylum seekers in January 2025, Pima County began winding down the shelter, but the last requests for reimbursements were ignored, leaving the county on the hook for around $10 million in expenses.

“This will likely bring to a close one of the most significant humanitarian aid programs undertaken by Pima County and its regional partners in the county’s history,” wrote Lesher in a memo January 2025.

“Without the county’s leading role coordinating and obtaining the funding for the Temporary Shelter Program, more than a half-million people over the past six and a half years would have been left to fend for themselves on the streets of Tucson, Nogales, Douglas, and elsewhere in Southern Arizona,” Lesher wrote.

Weeks later, a FEMA official said DHS had “significant concerns that SSP funding is going to entities engaged in or facilitating illegal activities.”

In a letter to Pima County officials, Cameron Hamilton, the Trump administration’s first “Senior Official Performing the Duties of FEMA Administrator,” demanded the county provide the name and contact information of each migrant who was provided services, “a detailed and descriptive list of specific services provided,” and proof of provision.

Alternatively, the county could have provided a written statement that all of that information has already been provided to DHS/FEMA.

Local shelter staffers routinely collected A-numbers, which are assigned by CBP, from every migrant entering their facilities, and county officials included that information when submitting requests for reimbursement from federal grant officials.

At the time, Lesher told the Board of Supervisors the six-year program was “entirely conducted with the knowledge, support, and participation of agencies of the Department of Homeland Security.”

“To be clear, it was U.S. Customs and Border Protection who brought to our shelters the asylum seekers they had processed and were releasing. It was CBP that determined that the individuals brought to the shelters were in the United States legally,” she said.

As part of the federal immigration process, most asylum seekers were given notices to appear at their nearest immigration court to pursue their cases, and CBP was responsible for processing and recording their personal information as well as biometrics before their release to the county.

After it became clear federal officials would issue reimbursements, Pima County joined a lawsuit with officials in Denver and Chicago against FEMA.

In November, a federal judge ordered the Trump administration to stop withholding funds, writing the move was “arbitrary and capricious,” adding Trump administration officials froze SSP funding “based on a policy disagreement with Congress.” He also criticized DHS’s attempt to shunt money earmarked for SSP to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations.

Trump administration officials “provided no reasoned explanation or factual findings to support the decision to freeze SSP funding,” wrote U.S. District Judge Matthew F. Kennelly at the time.

Kennelly later ordered FEMA to “resolve” open reimbursement requests, and earlier this year, FEMA told Pima County it approved $5.9 million in unpaid reimbursements for the shelter, covering around 62 percent of the $9.72 million remaining.

Kennelly later broadened his order, requiring FEMA to pay all
reimbursement claims, including those submitted by governments and
organizations that were not party to the lawsuit.

“The government’s contention that it does not have to process the other grantees’ claims comes far too late in the day,” he wrote on May 8. “The government sought ‘clarification’ on this point—in effect, seeking reconsideration—and the Court overruled its request.”

“The government could have appealed the preliminary injunction, or the denial of the motion to clarify. But it chose not to do so. At this point, the government does not have the option of disregarding the court’s orders; it is required to comply with them.”

County spokesman Mark Evans told the Sentinel on Thursday there “has been a persistent back and forth” with DHS as they challenge charges requiring the county to “provide extensive records to justify the charges.”

“So far, we haven’t received the money,” Evans said.

Kelly and Gallego told Fenton that in light of the court order “we reiterate our request that FEMA promptly fulfill its reimbursement obligations and provide updated information regarding the status of outstanding SSP reimbursements for all recipients and sub-recipients in Arizona.”

They added that recent court decisions make it clear FEMA is required to cover these obligations.

The senators also told Fenton to choose a point person to reimburse SSP funds in Arizona and make appropriate DHS and FEMA officials available for a briefing at their offices.

“Arizona localities and service providers fulfilled their responsibilities under this program and courts have agreed the agency’s actions to limit reimbursements were unlawful,” wrote Kelly and Gallego. “FEMA should now provide the clarity, transparency, and timely reimbursement as required under the agency’s own program rules pre-termination.”