PIMA COUNTY, May 16, 2025 – Pima County joined Chicago and Denver today in suing the U.S. Department of Homeland Security for millions of dollars owed to each government for sheltering legally processed asylum seekers (LPAS) in 2024 and 2025. The suit was filed in the U.S. District Court of Northern Illinois.
Board of Supervisors Chair Rex Scott released the following statement about the filing:
“In 2019, during the first Trump Administration, the federal government began awarding these funds to the County and we accepted them to ensure public health and safety. Acting as an earnest partner in this endeavor, we then provided sheltering services in good faith. We relied on these Congressionally appropriated funds and adhered to every regulation and law. Now, under the second Trump Administration, the federal government is suddenly changing the rules while sending confusing communications about reimbursement requirements along with arbitrary response deadlines for ambiguous and conflicting demands and is then nonresponsive for months about whether they’re going to comply with federal law. Immigration is a federal responsibility, and we’ve said all along that we would only provide sheltering services if the federal government paid for them. It appears DHS/FEMA are now refusing to disburse Congressionally approved funds. In order to advocate for our taxpayers and protect the county budget, we had no choice but to seek relief in federal court.”
A link to the complaint filed by the three governments is below. It contains the background and facts of the sheltering services provided by the plaintiffs and the federal reimbursement funding awarded each by the Congress, and the matters of law at issue. Chair Scott is deferring other comment about the complaint to Pima County Attorney Laura Conover to assure consistency in any statements about the suit with the legal arguments of the complaint.
MEDIA CONTACTS:
Pima County
Shawndrea Thomas
Communications Director
Pima County Attorney’s Office
Shawndrea.thomas@pcao.pima.gov
Office: 520-724-5738
Mobile: 520-310-4720
City of Denver
Ewing, Jon
Mayor’s Office Marketing and Communications Specialist
720-805-5487
City of Chicago
Kristen Cabanban
Public Information Officer
Chicago Law Department
kristen.cabanban@cityofchicago.org
312.744.1575
