The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has quietly rewritten its policies to bar states and organizations from receiving grant funding for disaster relief and mitigation if their services benefit undocumented immigrants.

The change, set to affect Federal Emergency Management Agency grant and award recipients, drew little attention when it was made in April but resulted in a lawsuit from New Mexico and 19 other Democratic states that is still pending.

Despite the legal challenge, the new guidance was scarcely communicated to nonprofits and municipalities that apply for federal dollars for disaster preparedness and relief — including Bernalillo County, which espouses immigrant protections and noted it was not made aware of the April changes.

Humanitarian and emergency relief groups ques

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