Trump administration ready to claw back another $106 million in FEMA migrant funds from NYC

The Trump administration warned Big Apple officials this month it was ready to grab back another $106 million in federal funds tied to migrant costs – but Mayor Eric Adams vowed Tuesday to fight the feds to keep the dough.

A top FEMA official told the city in an April 1 letter that the US government was axing a trio of already-awarded grants totaling $188 million, including the roughly $80 million in migrant funding secretly taken back by the White House in February.

Cameron Hamilton, senior official performing the duties of the administrator, wrote that retaking the massive haul is in line with the Department of Homeland Security’s crackdown on illegal immigration under President Trump.  

“The Department, consistent with President Trump’s direction, is focused on advancing the essential mission of enforcing immigration laws and securing the border,” Hamilton wrote in the letter obtained by The Post Tuesday.

“Consequently, grant programs that support, or have the potential to support, illegal immigration through funding illegal activities or support illegal aliens that is not consistent with DHS’s enforcement focus do not effectuate the agency’s current practices.”

The federal funding was first congressionally appropriated during the Biden presidency in response to New York’s migrant crisis, in which more than 230,000 asylum seekers had descended on Gotham.  

Adams called the federal plan “unlawful” and said the city’s law department is “currently determining the best legal recourse to take to ensure that this money remains in New York City, where it was allocated and belongs.”

He added the grants from the feds are the “bare minimum New York taxpayers deserve,” and the federal dollars are to reimburse the city for money already spent on migrants.

“As I have repeatedly said, New York City did not create this crisis — it was caused by decades of federal inaction and failure to pass comprehensive immigration reform. Yet, New Yorkers — and residents of other major cities across the country — have been forced to pay the price,” Adams said in a statement.

“With minimal help from the federal government, our administration has skillfully managed an unprecedented migrant crisis, during which more than 234,000 people have entered our city seeking shelter, costing taxpayers over $7.5 billion in just three years.”

The city previously took legal action after the $80 million was pulled.

The Democrat’s fiery statement Tuesday comes as critics of the mayor argue he’s been too soft on Trump in hopes his since-tossed criminal case would go away.

The possible legal showdown with Trump also comes a week after Adams announced he was forgoing the upcoming Democratic primary and instead was running for reelection on an independent line.

Hizzoner has been dogged by allegations that he and Trump’s Department of Justice agreed to a deal in which federal prosecutors would drop the corruption charges against Adams if he helped with the White House’s immigration enforcement.

Both Adams, whose indictment was dismissed by a judge last week for good, and the DOJ have denied any quid pro quo.

Hamilton, the FEMA official, wrote that the city has 30 days to challenge the termination of the grants.

Federal officials also pulled back $100 million from unspent COVID-19 relief funds last month, leading the Adams administration to file a declaration in support of a lawsuit against the cuts earlier this month.