The federal authorities distributes lots of of tens of millions of {dollars} annually to homes of worship to guard them from violent assaults, such because the synagogue arson in Jackson, Mississippi, final month or the automotive ramming on the Chabad headquarters in Brooklyn final week.
However would a synagogue that declares itself a sanctuary for refugees — and refuses to cooperate with Immigration and Customs Enforcement — be eligible for that funding beneath the Trump administration? What a few congregation that runs afoul of the administration’s anti-DEI push by providing applications geared toward making Jews of shade, Jews with disabilities or LGBTQ Jews really feel extra welcome?
After greater than six months of inquiries by Jewish organizations and members of Congress, the reply stays unclear: The federal authorities has not supplied a definitive clarification of what situations will apply to the funding. With the appliance deadline now handed, congregations that utilized regardless of the uncertainty are ready to seek out out whether or not they’ll obtain an award.
“We face actual threats towards our communities,” Amy Spitalnick, the CEO, Jewish Council for Public Affairs, stated in a press release. “But — as we’ve been warning for months — we’re now seeing this very important program thrown into chaos and politicized in harmful methods — from the delayed rollout, to complicated and contradictory steering, to new situations that pressure communities to decide on between their values and their safety.”
The most recent effort to maintain the safety funding untethered from ideological or political situations got here Thursday in a letter signed by a bipartisan group of members of Congress set to be despatched to Kristi Noem, the U.S. secretary of homeland safety, who oversees this system.
The letter was organized by Jewish Federations of North America, which for the primary time is publicly calling to take away the situations.
Within the letter, lawmakers urge DHS to maintain the Nonprofit Safety Grant Program targeted on its core goal and freed from unrelated coverage necessities.
“On this time of rising antisemitic terror assaults and violence towards numerous faith-based establishments, we consider it’s essential that NSGP stays a crucial useful resource for all who search to worship in security and free from partisan politicization,” the letter says.
In line with Eric Fingerhut, JFNA’s president and CEO, some Jewish establishments determined to not apply for the funding this yr, although there is no such thing as a estimate of what number of.
“We proceed to encourage each Jewish establishment with heightened safety wants to use for these funds,” stated in a press release. “Now we have additionally heard from our neighborhood that the present phrases and situations have had the unintended impact of deterring some organizations from making use of, which is why we consider they need to be up to date appropriately.”
The letter follows a extra forceful enchantment despatched final month by members of the Congressional Jewish Caucus — which consists solely of Democrats — organized by the Jewish Council for Public Affairs. That letter raised related issues about political and ideological situations being hooked up to the grants.
The Division of Homeland Safety has not responded to the Congressional Jewish Caucus letter has not answered requests for remark from the Jewish Telegraphic Company since August.
Created greater than 20 years in the past, this system gives grants to nonprofits deemed at excessive threat of terrorism or extremist violence, serving to them pay for “goal hardening” and different bodily safety upgrades. Eligible bills usually embody cameras, entry controls, alarms, locks and protecting boundaries. Congress allotted $274.5 million in every of the final two years and raised funding to $300 million for 2026. In 2024, lawmakers additionally authorized a one-time $400 million infusion to deal with a surge in threats towards homes of worship and nonprofit organizations following Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, assault on Israel.
Demand has far outpaced out there funding. In 2024, roughly 7,600 candidates sought practically $1 billion in grants, and solely 43% had been authorized. Jewish establishments have traditionally comprised a big share of the recipients.
When the federal nonprofit safety grants had been first proposed in 2004, they triggered a pointy debate contained in the Jewish neighborhood: the Union for Reform Judaism, the Anti-Defamation League and the American Jewish Committee opposed the concept on church-state grounds, warning that direct federal assist for homes of worship risked crossing a constitutional line.
That argument was echoed by outstanding Jewish lawmakers throughout Senate consideration of the “Excessive-Danger Non-Revenue Safety Enhancement Act.” Sen. Carl Levin backed an modification to bar support for safety enhancements to homes of worship, and Sen. Frank Lautenberg argued that even with safeguards, federal funding for spiritual websites “crossed a line,” citing a letter from Reform and Reconstructionist leaders that stated such support “severely weakens the wall separating church and state.”
Over time, nevertheless, significantly as threats towards Jewish establishments intensified, opposition throughout the Jewish neighborhood largely subsided. For a lot of, the pressing want to guard lives outweighed earlier worries. This system was more and more described by Jewish leaders and lawmakers as a uncommon bipartisan success: a lifesaving initiative that strengthened safety at synagogues and different establishments with out resulting in authorities interference in spiritual affairs.
That consensus started to fray final yr beneath the Trump administration, which launched new grant phrases that Jewish teams say lengthen past safety into issues of values and coverage.
The revised guidelines require grant recipients to make broad certifications associated to immigration enforcement and variety practices, prompting issues that synagogues may threat dropping funding for declaring themselves sanctuaries, declining to cooperate with immigration authorities, or providing inclusion-focused programming.
In August, an open letter signed by faith-based teams criticized the revised grant situations and urged organizations to rethink participation in this system so long as the situations are in place.
“We’re unified in refusing to capitulate to situations that may require us to sacrifice the security and dignity of our neighborhood members, neighbors, and companions with a purpose to obtain funding,” the letter stated.
Signatories included progressive Jewish advocacy teams similar to Bend the Arc: Jewish Motion, Jews for Racial & Financial Justice and, Jewish Voice for Peace, in addition to congregations similar to Kolot Chayeinu in Brooklyn, Kehilla Group Synagogue in Oakland, and Temple Beth El in Stamford, Connecticut.
Teams like JFNA and JCPA which have lengthy championed this system took a distinct tack. They suggested Jewish establishments and congregations to use for funding whereas they labored behind the scenes to push for modifications, noting that if the situations had been nonetheless in place when grants had been supplied, candidates may then decline the cash.
In November, DHS advised JCPA that the immigration cooperation necessities don’t apply to nonprofit safety grants, although the official funding discover has not been revised to mirror the change and the functions nonetheless required candidates to reveal whether or not their work or mission entails supporting immigrants. Language barring what the administration defines as “unlawful DEIA” actions stays in impact.
The uncertainty is underscored by a authorities FAQ that asks whether or not accepting nonprofit safety grant funding may enable the federal authorities to impose restrictions “in some other space of coverage which will contradict the spiritual and/or different beliefs” of a recipient. Somewhat than providing a transparent reply, the steering advises candidates to seek the advice of authorized counsel — a response advocates have flagged as regarding.
A associated dispute can be unfolding in federal court docket. In October, a decide in Rhode Island dominated in Illinois et al. v. FEMA that the Trump administration couldn’t require states to cooperate with federal immigration enforcement as a situation of receiving sure homeland safety grants, ordering these necessities stripped from grant agreements.
However a subsequent DHS memo notes that the ruling applies solely to the 21 states and jurisdictions that sued, and that the administration will reinstate the situations if it prevails on enchantment.
