Appropriations subcommittee hears calls for nonprofit security aid, FEMA funding and detention oversight

Congressional witnesses told the House Appropriations Homeland Security Subcommittee that funding and oversight decisions in the DHS appropriations bill must protect communities, safeguard religious institutions and curb harmful immigration enforcement practices.

Congresswoman Wasserman Schultz, the first witness, told the panel that "We need to fully fund the Nonprofit Security Grant Program and quickly deliver funding to congregations in need," citing an uptick in anti‑Semitic incidents and FBI survey figures describing large shares of Jewish Americans reporting harassment. She told members many approved grant applicants still face years‑long waits because funding is limited and the application process is confusing.

Wasserman Schultz also urged the committee to include language directing the secretary to review recent terminations of Temporary Protected Status for Venezuelans and Haitians and to require reporting on the "potential economic and fiscal consequences". She argued that terminating TPS for those groups "would pull nearly 1 million people out of the workforce," a change she said would shrink state economies and reduce payroll tax revenue.

On immigration detention, Wasserman Schultz pressed for continued bipartisan support for "no notice member access to detention sites," described alleged abuses in facilities and said "more than 40 people have died in ICE custody over the last year." She named the Everglades Detention Center as an example of a facility she said failed to meet humane standards and urged the committee to pursue member oversight of detention sites.

Later in the hearing, Congresswoman Stansbury framed funding decisions as both practical and moral. She said the Department of Homeland Security had been in partial shutdown for an extended period and that "federal workers across the country, including thousands who serve our communities every day, remain unpaid." Stansbury said those staffing gaps were straining TSA and FEMA operations and putting disaster response at risk.

Stansbury urged "full and robust funding for FEMA," stressing pre‑disaster mitigation and the speed of assistance to communities hit by fires and floods in her state and tribal areas. She also asked the subcommittee to ensure oversight so resources reach affected communities quickly, arguing that delays compound humanitarian harm.

On immigration enforcement, Stansbury said she "cannot support another penny of funding for ICE as it currently stands" and urged the committee to prohibit detention bed quotas and "warehouse‑style detention centers." She also called for protections requiring that families be notified when a relative is detained, transferred or released and for measures to protect polling and voting locations from intimidation.

Both witnesses asked the committee to preserve or expand funding for core immigration services. Wasserman Schultz requested full funding for U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services to prevent further cuts that she said have harmed families and legal processing.

Committee leaders thanked the witnesses, invited continued collaboration on legislative language and said members would follow up as the bill moves toward full committee markup. The subcommittee then adjourned.

Quotes used in this article come directly from witness testimony at the hearing.