Middle East Forum, known for documenting militant Islam around the globe, says it examined a decade of DHS grants spanning 2013 to 2023. Even though the funding didn’t go directly to terrorist groups, such as Hezbollah, the Forum was concerned because the monies flowed to groups that are known or suspected of having ties to U.S. enemies.
The report, released July 21, is called “Homeland Insecurity: Unraveling DHS Funding of Terror-Linked and Extremist Groups.”
Benjamin Baird, a co-author of the report, says the Forum raised concerns because taxpayer dollars went to a U.S. mosque, for example, that had ties to the 9/11 hijackers.
“You have groups that are tied to Al Qaeda, to Hezbollah, to Hamas,” he warned, “that have received Department of Homeland Security grants.”
Among its findings, the Forum alleges:
*DHS allocated $750,000 to mosques in Detroit, Michigan and Austin, Texas that are tied to Iran or its terrorist proxies.
*Some grant funds went through FEMA for a security improvement grant.
*The largest grant appropriations went to Islamic Circle of North America Relief. That nonprofit, which pocketed $10.3 million, is supposed to oversee disaster relief.
*In a twist of irony, DHS disbursed $3.3 million through a program called Countering Violent Extremism. Middle East Forum says those funds went to Islamist groups that are themselves dangerous.
With a new administration in the White House, however, Baird said the Trump administration is aware of the grants and is taking action.
“We're working with DOGE, with FEMA, with the administration, to not only try to rescind some of these bad grants,” he advises, “but also to try to make vetting and transparency reform. So that the next administration can't turn around and resume some of these bad grants."
Because of the huge size of Homeland Security, with 22 agencies under it, the Forum believes shrinking the federal workforce and shuttering some offices will help stop waste, fraud, and abuse.
