GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Last week FOX 17 told you about a Trump administration memo freezing billions of dollars in aid.
A judge blocked that order and rescinded the case, which is now working through the legal system.
Around the same time last week Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem reportedly announced that her department had stopped all grant funding to non-governmental organizations.
She told FOX News the first step was freezing the funds and then re-evaluating them.
Now, a West Michigan organization claims they've been impacted.
The Literacy Center of West Michigan typically gets reimbursed monthly for its work.
Their mission is to help legal immigrants pass their naturalization test, a core class that could be going away if something doesn't change.
"We're removing the two major barriers that folks who are eligible for citizenship have to gain, and that's enough English to pass the naturalization test, both the oral test and the written test," Literacy Center of West Michigan Executive Director Wendy Falb said.
Falb explains that her organization received a $300,000 federal grant from the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services more than two years ago to support those classes.
Since then, Falb says they helped 100 people pass their naturalization tests.
"We're really excited about and proud of the work we're doing," Falb said.
The executive director adds in November, the grant was renewed.
"We have 40 people, 38 people in class. We have 25 people on the waiting list for April. We're at capacity," Falb said.
Now, those classes could be in jeopardy.
"We have to make a decision whether we end classes this week and let people go, whether we try to find the funds to finish off these classes," Falb said.
The executive director says the Department of Homeland Security emailed them on Feb. 4, 2025.
“Pursuant to the Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem's memorandum dated January 28, 2025, and effective immediately, your grant from U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Services is frozen.”
"We have a lot of decisions to make at what level of programming we're going to do going forward," Falb said.
The email continues, "We recognize this will have an impact on your organization. We are unable to provide a timeline on this freeze."
"Sometimes there are reasons that grants have to come to an end earlier than expected, but there's usually an off-ramp. There's a time period to wind down, do your finer billing," she added.
Falb now hopes this freeze is only temporary for the sake of her organization and its students.
"What is so wonderful when you see people, they get their confidence back. When you're not fluent in the language you might pretend to understand when you don't understand, and it creates a lot of insecurity," Falb said.
The executive director says she’s been problem solving. She adds that they’re working on potential fundraising efforts to improve their current situation.
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