Storm-ravaged farmhouse in coastal Oregon. Photo: Jeffrey St. Clair. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) continues to attach conditions to federal disaster assistance grants that require recipients to comply with federal immigration law, hampering the ability of states and localities to prepare for disasters. In January, Trump issued Executive Order 14159 calling for DHS to “undertake any lawful actions to ensure that so-called ‘sanctuary’ jurisdictions, which seek to interfere with the lawful exercise of Federal law enforcement operations, do not receive access to Federal funds.” DHS Secretary Kristi Noem issued a memorandum in February, directing sub-agencies such as the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to scrutinize all federal financial assistance awards. The purpose was to identify funds allocated to sanctuary jurisdictions and to report on compliance within 30 days. By March, FEMA had added language to its grants requiring state and local recipients to confirm they’d help enforce federal immigration law or risk losing all federal funds administered by DHS. 1. Grant recipients must share information with DHS on the citizenship or immigration status, lawful or unlawful, of individuals. 2. Recipients cannot encourage or induce noncitizens to enter the country illegally. 3. Recipients must “honor requests for cooperation, such as participation in joint operations, sharing of information, or requests for short-term detention” of immigrants. 4. Recipients must provide federal immigration agents “access to detainees” in correctional facilities. 5. Recipients must not “leak or otherwise publicize the existence of” any federal immigration enforcement operations. 6. Both grant recipients and subgrant recipients, including aid organizations, are required to follow the criteria. Finally, recipients are required to certify that none of the programs operated using federal funding can benefit illegal immigrants.