Lincoln County decides not to apply for federal grant due to immigration enforcement requirements

Lincoln County has decided not to apply for a FEMA grant after the Trump administration added a requirement that recipients participate in federal immigration enforcement.

Speaking at a commissioner's meeting last week, administrator Carrie Kipfer said the county regularly applies for funding through FEMA's Homeland Security Grant Program, using the money for a variety of projects to improve disaster resilience and response.

"I've never had an experience where our Emergency Management Agency was now going to be required to be part of the immigration enforcement arm of the federal government," Kipfer said.

She said the new grant language would have required local agencies to participate in joint operations with federal agents, and detain immigrants at the request of federal officials.

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