Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem announced Wednesday the department has stopped all grant funding to nonprofits that operate outside of government control, saying they have been “perverted into a shadow government” that feeds illegal immigration.
Noem said some non-governmental organizations (NGOs), which receive millions in federal grants, have been facilitating illegal immigration by helping aliens cross the U.S. border.
“Many of these NGOs actually have infrastructure and operations set up in Mexico, on that side of the border, and are telling those illegal immigrants to come to them, and they will get them across the border,” Noem said on Fox News Channel’s Will Cain Show. “So they’re not just operating in the United States, they’re operating outside the United States to help make it easier for those who want to break our laws.”
Homeland Security Kristi Noem joins an ICE raid in New York City on Tuesday. Noem said communities will be safer because of targeted raids that go after criminal illegal immigrants. (Department of Homeland Security)
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The first step to curbing the issue is to freeze the funds, reevaluate them, and make sure taxpayer dollars are going toward safe causes, she said.
“I think people are curious [to see how] grants that are given out by federal agencies [are] utilized,” Noem said.Â
Until an evaluation is completed, Noem said the department is “not spending another dime to help the destruction of this country.”
This photo shows migrants at the southern border encountered in Arizona. (U.S. Border Patrol)
She added not all NGOs are what they appear to be, and some could be a risk to national security.
“When somebody said NGO to me, I thought that [was] a nonprofit telling somebody about Jesus or spreading faith and salvation…,” Noem said. “Then I realized over the years, it’s been perverted into this shadow government.”
Noem explained that NGOs create an entity to use taxpayer dollars, funding an operation the federal government cannot legally implement itself.
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Recently, she said they have been used to undermine the country’s national security.Â
Approximately 1.5 million NGOs operate in the U.S., according to the U.S. Department of State.
A sign is posted at the U.S. Border Patrol station where lawyers reported that detained migrant children had been held unbathed and hungry on June 26, 2019, in Clint, Texas. Nearly 100 children were sent back to the troubled facility yesterday after it had been cleared of 249 children just days earlier. Acting commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) John Sanders submitted his resignation in the wake of the scandal. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images) (Mario Tama/Getty Images)
NGOs can range from political advocacy groups, to religious volunteer organizations or labor unions.
There are no laws prohibiting foreign funding of NGOs, whether that be from other governments or non-government sources, according to the State Department.
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In 2024, the U.S. spent more than $380 million on sheltering and service programs for illegal immigrants.
