Overview

• Wednesday’s hearing, “An Inside Job: How NGOs Facilitated the Biden Border Crisis,” featured testimony from Mike Howell, Ali Hopper and Julio Rosas on NGOs’ alleged roles in migrant dispersal, trafficking and ICE evasion.
• Committee leaders have sent inquiry letters to more than 200 nonprofit organizations seeking detailed documentation on billions in FEMA’s Shelter and Services Program and other DHS and HHS grants awarded under the Biden administration.
• Republicans cited Customs and Border Protection data showing record migrant encounters in fiscal years 2023 and 2024 to argue that taxpayer-funded services enabled large-scale releases and nationwide dispersal of migrants.
• Democrats on the panel condemned the hearing as a politically motivated attack on faith-based and humanitarian groups, accusing Republicans of abusing congressional power and vilifying charities that assist vulnerable populations.
• The investigation builds on a January freeze of major migrant-aid grants and a 2023 DHS Office of Inspector General audit that flagged significant undocumented NGO funding, with lawmakers weighing further oversight and enforcement measures.