New York City Sues Trump, Demands Return Of $80-M In Seized FEMA Funds

New York City has filed a federal lawsuit against President Donald Trump, members of his administration, and multiple U.S. agencies, alleging the unlawful seizure of over $80 million in FEMA funds, CBS News reported.

The lawsuit seeks the immediate return of the funds and an injunction preventing further federal seizures or withholding of city funds.

The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, alleges that FEMA awarded New York over $80 million on Feb. 4 as reimbursement for expenses incurred in sheltering asylum seekers.

However, on Feb. 11, federal officials withdrew those funds from a city bank account without prior notice or explanation. FEMA later informed the city—over a week later, on Feb. 19—that the payments were being “temporarily withheld.”

The lawsuit seeks the immediate return of the funds and an injunction preventing further federal seizures or withholding of city funds.

"Without a doubt, our immigration system is broken, but the cost of managing an international humanitarian crisis should not overwhelmingly fall onto one city alone," Mayor Eric Adams said in a statement.

"With very little help from the federal government, our administration has skillfully managed an unprecedented crisis, which has seen over 231,000 people enter our city seeking shelter. The $80 million that FEMA approved, paid, and then rescinded—after the city spent more than $7 billion in the last three years—is the bare minimum our taxpayers deserve."

Adams vowed to fight for every dollar owed to the city, praising the Law Department for working to “ensure New York taxpayers can start to be made whole again.”