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City manager outlines risks to federal grants and recounts recent ICE interactions in Cambridge
Summary
City Manager announced staff extensions of HUD and other federal subawards while litigation continues, and police described six instances in 2025 where ICE contacted Cambridge authorities about people in custody or to notify them of actions in the city.
City Manager Yi-An Wong told the Cambridge City Council on Sept. 8 that the city is monitoring federal funding risks tied to litigation and is planning short‑term extensions to avoid service disruption for people receiving homelessness and other supports.
Wong said Cambridge’s anticipated HUD Continuum of Care grant award for fiscal 2026 totals $6,300,000. Because of litigation by plaintiffs in the King County v. Turner lawsuit, HUD was temporarily enjoined from withholding funds. The city entered into subawards for July–September to nonprofit providers totaling about $770,000 to keep leasing and supportive services running; staff now propose extending those subawards for Oct. 1–Dec. 31 at an additional $1,400,000 while litigation continues.
Wong also said the city had extended agreements for Emergency Solutions Grant (ESG) and Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) public‑service awards for July–September totaling about $140,000 and is proposing an additional $140,000 for October–December. In total, he said, staff are proposing about $1.5 million of federal grant funding to continue critical programs for the next quarter until litigation and federal budget processes become clearer; the council was told a formal appropriation request would likely come on Sept. 29.
On immigration enforcement, Wong said Cambridge had received six notifications or interactions from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in calendar 2025. He described the city’s practice of insisting on notification when federal agents perform detentions in Cambridge, and stressed that Cambridge’s police do not perform civil immigration enforcement. Police Commissioner Elo and witnesses described several of the six interactions in more detail: several calls involved ICE asking about people who had been arrested in Cambridge and requesting custody information; in at least one case ICE collected fingerprints through NCIC and picked up an individual after release. Commissioner Elo said the department generally refers ICE to the city’s “welcoming ordinance” and will not provide additional information.
Wong and the council said they remain concerned about the national increase in ICE enforcement funding and recent U.S. Supreme Court decisions limiting lower‑court injunctions, but that, to date, Cambridge has not seen a regional surge of ICE activity within city limits. Wong said the city’s law department has increased its involvement in litigation and that city staff expect to return to the council with financial stabilization options should federal funds be withheld.
Why it matters: The city is underwriting critical homelessness services while litigation and federal budget uncertainty persist; the city must weigh the risk of non‑reimbursement against service continuity. ICE interactions raise community concern and prompt calls for clear notification and support for residents at risk of enforcement.
What’s next: City staff plan to extend current subawards for the next quarter and will present a formal appropriation request to the council on Sept. 29, 2025. The law department and city manager will continue monitoring litigation and ICE activity and report updates to the council.
