Trump administration threatens groups that distributed federal aid for migrants

Fema-run program withholds funds it owes service providers and claims they may have aided illegal activities'

The Trump administration is accusing some state authorities and non-profits of in effect smuggling or harboring migrants after they provided food and shelter for such people - even though the services were funded through federal government programs and those being helped had already been processed and released by immigration officials.

The administration has also withheld funds it owes to service providers, which spent up front to support vulnerable families recently arrived in the US, on the good faith agreement that, as is usual practice, they would be paid back by Washington.