In a long-overdue move, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is reevaluating millions of dollars in security grants previously awarded to Muslim organizations accused of ties to terrorism. This comes in the wake of a detailed report by the Middle East Forum (MEF), a conservative pro-Israel think tank, which exposed more than $25 million in federal funding given to extremist-linked groups between 2013 and 2023.
According to a DHS document obtained by Fox News Digital, 49 projects with suspected terrorist affiliations have already been axed — saving American taxpayers approximately $8 million. The funding in question was distributed under FEMA’s Nonprofit Security Grant Program (NSGP), which is intended to protect churches, synagogues, mosques, and other faith-based institutions from hate-motivated violence.
The MEF report, which DHS says it “takes very seriously,” spotlighted several troubling grant recipients. In 2019, $100,000 was awarded to Dar al-Hijrah mosque in Virginia, a facility previously identified by Customs and Border Protection as a “front for Hamas operatives in the U.S.” The DHS is now conducting its own independent review of all current and past NSGP grants and may seek to recover unspent funds.
A DHS official acknowledged the importance of watchdog efforts like MEF’s, stating, “We don’t want to be empowering groups that could be causing a threat to our community here in the United States.”
The shake-up coincides with Secretary Kristi Noem’s leadership of the DHS and reflects a stronger, more conservative approach to national security and funding accountability. For fiscal year 2024, $204 million has already been allocated through the NSGP, including $94 million to 500 Jewish organizations amid a spike in antisemitic attacks, and another $110 million split among Christian, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, Sikh, and additional Jewish institutions.
However, DHS promises tighter screening going forward. Starting in fiscal year 2025, applicants will face enhanced vetting standards to ensure that taxpayer dollars are not misused to support radical ideologies or activities.
Among other troubling findings in the MEF report:
-
$10.3 million was funneled to the Islamic Circle of North America, allegedly linked to Jamaat-e-Islami, a South Asian Islamist movement.
-
$250,000 was given to the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), which DHS previously accused of Hamas connections.
-
$750,000 went to mosques in Michigan and Texas that federal sources have labeled as hubs for Iran’s revolutionary Shi’a Islamist ideology.
Despite these revelations, CAIR continues to lash out at DHS and the MEF. A spokesperson accused DHS of being influenced by what they called an “Israel First hate website,” and slammed Secretary Noem for “embarrassing President Trump.”
CAIR has since urged Muslim organizations to boycott DHS and FEMA grants unless new vetting requirements — including cooperation with immigration enforcement and a ban on DEI programs and illegal immigrant support — are scrapped.
With billions in taxpayer dollars at stake, DHS’s crackdown is a welcome course correction. It’s about time Washington prioritized American security over political correctness.
