Religious leaders, lawmakers push for $1 billion to secure houses of worship - BERITAJA

Eric Fingerhut, the president and CEO of the Jewish Federations of North America, speaks astatine an arena successful D.C. connected May 18, 2026. JFNA organized an defense fly-in of much than 400 Jewish leaders to Capitol Hill to impulse lawmakers to support much backing for the Nonprofit Security Grant Program, which offers backing to fortify information astatine houses of worship. Photo courtesy of the Jewish Federations of North America

Photo courtesy of the Jewish Federations of North America

At a caller Shabbat work successful West Bloomfield, Mich., Rabbi Jen Lader shared plans to lobby Congress to move much backing into a national programme that strengthens information astatine houses of worship.

"We are not asking Congress to conscionable protect Jews – we are asking Congress to protect each organization of Americans that gathers to pray. And we are asking pinch the afloat weight of what we person conscionable lived done down us," she said, referencing the March onslaught connected her congregation of Temple Israel. 

The truth that nary 1 was killed different than the attacker is simply a credit, Lader said, to their information unit and rigorous unit training.

"If we had not had those resources and that funding, this would person been a really different story," she told BERITAJA. "And we cannot let a azygous different organization to acquisition thing arsenic horrific arsenic we've experienced, knowing that location were resources that could person gone into redeeming lives."

Lader and complete 400 different Jewish leaders travelled to D.C. this week to push for an summation successful backing for the Nonprofit Security Grant Program (NSGP), which awards backing to nonprofits to heighten information – from installing doorway locks and information cameras to erecting bollards to forestall vehicles from crashing into buildings.

"It's tragic that we person to beryllium reasoning about this successful the aforesaid measurement that TSA protects airports and businesses protect their premises, but we person to," said Eric Fingerhut, president and CEO of the Jewish Federations of North America, the group starring the lobbying effort this week.

The defense push connected Capitol Hill happened to travel conscionable 1 time aft 2 teenagers attacked a San Diego mosque, sidesplitting 3 men and themselves.

"It's 1 of those moments wherever you think, is this going to hap to us? Is it a matter of erstwhile aliases if?" said Fadi Hammami, co-president of the Islamic Association of Greater Hartford. "Are we prepared?"

Two women outcry arsenic they time off a reunification halfway pursuing the shooting astatine the Islamic Center of San Diego successful confederate California, connected May 18, 2026. A shooting astatine the largest mosque analyzable successful San Diego killed 3 people, pinch 2 suspected teenage gunmen later recovered dormant successful a car from self-inflicted gunshot wounds, constabulary said. ZOE MEYERS/AFP via Getty Images/AFP

ZOE MEYERS/AFP via Getty Images/AFP

Longstanding programme to unafraid houses of worship

Hammami said the Islamic Association of Greater Hartford started applying successful 2019 for the NSGP, which is administered by FEMA nether the Department of Homeland Security. Nonprofits use via State Administrative Agencies, providing materials for illustration vulnerability assessments, fund estimates and projected expenditures.

Hammami said they were approved for 50 1000 dollars successful 2021. They utilized the costs to fortify doors and bargain information cameras and alarms. But contempt imaginable further enhancements, they've since stopped applying.

"While the merits of the programme are great, the management portion has a batch to beryllium desired," he told BERITAJA, pointing to the program's reimbursement structure.

Nonprofits must hold for support earlier opening immoderate information enhancements, and must travel up pinch the costs connected the beforehand extremity to later beryllium reimbursed. Some states whitethorn connection a rate beforehand option, but FEMA's national process is reimbursement-based.

"Luckily, we are 1 of the bigger associations and we had immoderate reserves that we applied towards that earlier we could get reimbursed," Hammami said. "But a batch of our smaller Islamic centers do not person that magnitude of cash."

Shane Dennis, the organization information head for the Jewish Federation of Greater Ann Arbor, said this is simply a communal challenge. In his role, he helps organizations navigate the NSGP exertion and provides information assessments.

"We commencement from the outside, whether there's fencing aliases gates successful the parking lot, really galore entrances it has, lighting, cameras, access," he explained. "And inside, looking for doorway locks, locations to unafraid yourself wrong a building, unsighted spots for cameras, things of that nature."

Under the program, individual houses of believe could petition up to $200,000. Nonprofits pinch aggregate sites could taxable for up to 3 sites for a maximum of $600,000 per state. But Dennis said often, nonprofits will use for less.

"There's debased hanging fruit," he said. "For example, bully doorway locks could beryllium $40-50 a door, aliases putting stickers connected doors truthful you could stock a representation of the building pinch rule enforcement – truthful if you're locked down, you could show the constabulary 'I'm by doorway five.'"

He said the administrative process could beryllium 'cumbersome' and 'frustrating' because of a agelong database of forms to coordinate pinch authorities agencies and "many layers of travel up." He said the full endeavor could sometimes return years from commencement to finish, a process made lengthier by caller DHS shutdowns.

Jerry Sorokin, executive head of Beth Israel Congregation successful Ann Arbor, Mich., applied successful 2024 to instal bollards extracurricular the schoolhouse entrance.

"The problem is that you cannot statesman the task until the assistance has been approved, and truthful everything sewage put connected clasp while we waited for a consequence from the government," he said. "When that consequence ended up being 'no', we were months down wherever we wanted to be."

Fast guardant to this March, erstwhile Sorokin watched the news of a motortruck ramming into a synagogue preschool conscionable forty miles away.

"When Temple Israel was attacked, it showed maine that, successful fact, this could hap to us, that we weren't exaggerating our concerns," he said, adding he instantly went retired to rent bollards.

"It's a challenge. We person to put different priorities connected clasp successful bid to attraction connected upgrading information needs successful the building," he said. "But it doesn't matter really good heated aliases cooled your building is – if group don't consciousness comfortable being location because they're scared, that's not acceptable."

Rep. Josh Gottheimer, D-N.Y., seen present during a proceeding connected June 24, 2025, has been proceeding from belief leaders successful his territory pinch concerns about the information of their houses of worship. Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images/Getty Images North America

Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images/Getty Images North America

The position from Capitol Hill 

Rep. Josh Gottheimer, D-N.J., is portion of a bipartisan contingent of lawmakers who support expanding NSGP funding.

"I've sewage belief leaders perpetually calling maine and saying, 'I'm scared. My parishioners are scared,'" he told BERITAJA. "We are gathering less than half of the requests from synagogues and churches and mosques about the country, truthful we request much resources."

For fiscal twelvemonth 2024, about 33 percent of applications were awarded funding. Over 12,000 applications were received; of those, about 4,000 were awarded pinch costs from the NSGP and a separate, related information fund.

Funding for NSGP has grown significantly since its motorboat successful 2005. In FY 2025, NSGP's legislature appropriations were $274.5 million. That money was delayed heading retired the doorway because of an extended shutdown of DHS, which ended past month. The FY 2025 awards are expected to beryllium announced by FEMA successful June.

"We are moving diligently and arsenic accelerated arsenic we could to get the money retired of the door," said Victoria Barton, Associate Administrator for the Office of External Affairs astatine FEMA. "If location hadn't been a shutdown, location wouldn't beryllium this delay."

Lawmakers person been pushing to summation funding and sent a letter successful January to then-DHS Secretary Kristi Noem pinch concerns about compliance requirements. Applicants expressed interest and disorder about whether NSGP exertion materials indicated grants could beryllium contingent connected cooperating pinch national migration enforcement.

"We were proceeding from houses of believe that were concerned about applying, if abruptly your temple is not a safe abstraction from an ICE raid," Gottheimer said.

New guidance to explain requirements is expected from the department, which is under caller leadership.

Meanwhile, a bill projected Tuesday seeks not only to boost legislature backing for the programme to 1 cardinal dollars, but would summation resources for state-level assistance administrations and require reimbursement processing to beryllium released wrong 90 days of legislature appropriations. It would besides easiness limitations connected hiring information personnel.

The original creation of the programme was to harden beingness defenses, not salary for information personnel. In 2019, NSGP expanded it to let nonprofits to usage costs for off-duty rule enforcement arsenic contracted personnel. Nonprofits cannot presently usage backing to prosecute nationalist information officers arsenic nonstop employees.

Advocates opportunity it's clip to alteration that.

"The information guards astatine Temple Israel and the Islamic Center successful San Diego were the quality betwixt redeeming lives and not," said Fingerhut of JFNA. "Security guards who activity for the institution are truthful overmuch much effective – they cognize the buildings, the families, the employees. They cognize erstwhile thing is retired of sorts."

Islamic statement calls for briefing pinch administration 

In the aftermath of the onslaught Monday, the Council connected American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) sent a letter to DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin, expressing concerns that Islamic centers were blocked from entree to NSGP costs nether anterior DHS leadership.

The missive calls connected DHS to big a briefing for American Muslim leaders connected ensuring adjacent entree to the NSGP and to instruct FEMA to region immoderate conditions connected the programme that restrict free speech.

"Under anterior administrations, CAIR worked pinch FEMA and DHS to rumor guidance, clarifying to the Muslim organization that applying to this assistance programme would not consequence successful immoderate dispute investigations," said Robert McCaw, CAIR's authorities affairs director. "I don't deliberation that guarantee exists nether the Trump administration."

FEMA told BERITAJA that DHS has not blocked NSGP costs to Muslim groups and encourages each eligible entities to use for funding.

"Under President Trump, the Department of Homeland Security is committed to protecting each Americans, nary matter their faith, from coercion and targeted violence," FEMA said successful a connection to BERITAJA.

McCaw said CAIR itself has benefitted from NSGP backing successful the past to harden its office and echoes calls from different belief institutions to telephone for costs to increase, pending confirmation from the management of adjacent entree to funds.