Recent changes in the federal government have renewed concerns and fears over potential immigration enforcement actions during disasters. This has raised questions among some community members about whether they should pursue emergency assistance during and following disasters. This document summarizes what we know now in a Q&A format about immigrant eligibility for emergency services.

A coalition of organizations are closely monitoring how FEMA is interacting with non-citizens and mixed-status households, and how immigration enforcement agencies like ICE may be involved. As of the date of this document there are no new policies establishing restrictions on emergency non-cash or cash assistance since January 2025.

We are concerned, however, that there may be changes on the horizon or new ways in which recent executive actions may be applied to emergency assistance (for example, greater cooperation with ICE, denial of benefits to mixed status households, withdrawal of language access support, etc.). If and when we see any of these things happen, we will update this guidance.

If you see any of these things happen on the ground, please contact: disaster-response-information@justsolutionscollective.org

Partner Organizations:

• National Partnership for New Americans
• The National Immigration Law Center
• National Low Income Housing Coalition
• Organizing Resilience
• Protecting Immigrant Families
• Texas Appleseed
• Hawai’i Coalition for Immigrant Rights

Use these templates to add your group’s logo to the Partner Organizations page, so that you can share this with your local community.

• English template
• Spanish template