8 April 3 - 9, 2025 dallasobserver.com DALLAS OBSERVER Classified | MusiC | dish | Culture | unfair Park | Contents individuals from purchasing property on the basis of their religious identity is a viola- tion of the Fair Housing Act. Qadhi has highlighted that the intention isn’t to form a cult but rather a safe space for the Muslim community in Texas. In a Feb- ruary tweet, Qadhi claimed to his 700,000 followers that 500 lots at EPIC City had al- ready been purchased. “We are not forming a cult,” Qadhi said in a project update video in February. “We’re not forming big barriers between the rest of society. We’re going to be giving back to this state and this country, and we’re go- ing to be showing what it means to be a Muslim neighborhood.” The East Plano Islam Center even in- vited Abbott to tour the project site and learn more about the proposed community, but its hospitality was not enough to keep the governor at bay. On March 24, the governor wrote on X that a dozen state agencies had launched in- vestigations into the legality of the “EPIC compound” and that the attorney general was pursuing the issue. The next day Paxton announced the issue of a civil investigative demand to Community Capital Partners “as part of an ongoing investigation into CCP’s real estate development, EPIC City.” “Under my watch, there will be zero tol- erance for any person or entity that breaks Texas law,” said Paxton in a press release. “My office has an open and ongoing investi- gation into EPIC City, which has raised a number of concerns, and this CID will help ensure that any potential violation of state law is uncovered.” On March 26, the governor announced that the Texas Funeral Service had issued a cease and desist letter to East Plano Islamic Center for operating a funeral home with- out a license. The funeral support services page on the mosque’s website was active for a time on Wednesday, but soon after letter was released, the page began displaying only a 404 error message. Abbott indicated that the funeral service bust was just the first of many, doubling down on his dedication to preventing the development from becoming a reality. “This the tip of the iceberg,” the gover- nor wrote on X. “We are uncovering legal violations by EPIC City that go far beyond what people realize. The proposed com- munity will never see the light of day. More to come.” Indeed that was true. On March 27, Ab- bott announced another investigation into EPIC, with this one focusing on possible fraud. In a press release the governor hit on some of the talking points he’s been ham- mering on for the past few days. “The group behind the proposed East Plano Islamic Center compound may be misleading investors,” Abbott said in the re- lease. “Defrauding Texans will not be toler- ated. The Texas State Securities Board is conducting a thorough investigation to en- sure Texans are protected from financial harm that is alleged to have been caused by EPIC. This is part of an ongoing investiga- tion into allegations of illegal activities by EPIC. All entities in Texas must follow state law, not Sharia law.” ▼ IMMIGRATION A SLOW THAW $47 MILLION IN FROZEN GRANT FUNDS FINALLY REISSUED TO TEXAS NONPROFITS. BY ALYSSA FIELDS F ollowing a letter from U.S. Rep. Julie Johnson, the Democrat who suc- ceeded Colin Allred in District 32, the Trump administration last week released $47 million in federal grant funding dedi- cated to helping refugees acclimate to life in the United States. In her letter, addressed to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Johnson raised her concerns over extended funding delays as they impacted Texas organizations. “This funding freeze threatens 29 nonprof- its across the state of Texas,” said the letter from Johnson and nine other lawmakers. “Twenty-four out of 29 impacted nonprofits have already had to furlough or lay off staff due to instability from the administration. Nearly 1000 nonprofit workers have lost their jobs, and thousands of refugees in Texas have lost access to services and support. If funding is not restored immediately, hundreds of thou- sands of refugees across the state could be per- manently left without crucial medical services, basic shelter, and legal support.” The money in question is provided by the Office of Refugee Resettlement and distrib- uted by the Texas Office of Refugees (TXOR) to non-profits across the state. Seven affected nonprofits are located in Dal- las, and three are in Fort Worth. The funds afford English-language lessons, job readi- ness and employment services and tempo- rary cash and medical assistance for refugees post-arrival. “This funding should have never been fro- zen in the first place,” said Johnson in a press release. “The Trump administration’s deci- sion to withhold these critical resources cre- ated unnecessary chaos, putting nonprofits, workers, and countless refugees at risk. I’m relieved these funds have finally been re- leased after highlighting this important issue, but let’s be clear—playing politics with peo- ple’s lives is unacceptable. We must ensure stability for the organizations doing this vital work and never allow illegal funding freezes to jeopardize basic human needs.” According to the letter, the Department of Health and Human Services suspended funding to state agencies for refugee ser- vices in January. When the funding suspen- sion was reversed, the Texas Office of Refugee Resettlement was the only state agency without access. The Office of Refu- gee Resettlement was unable to comment, citing ongoing litigation. There isn’t a clear explanation for why Texas was excluded from the unfrozen funds, although Johnson has heard various theories. “I’m not entirely certain why Texas was singled out,” she said. “I’ve heard two situa- tions. One is just incompetence of the Trump administration, and the other is incompe- tence by our governor, who didn’t request it… Either Gov. Abbott opted out of the program or didn’t request the program funding, or the administration just screwed it up.” Johnson and her colleagues received a flood of calls from different organizations that were facing closure if they didn’t regain access to federal funding, so they wrote the letter on March 13. Soon after, the money was made available. “It was very gratifying to know that you can make a difference and move the needle in this environment,” she said. “I think a lot of people feel despair and helplessness that nothing can be done. But that’s not true.” Frozen, Then Unfrozen Among the many executive orders issued on the first day of President Donald Trump’s second term was an order to pause the federal government’s refugee program. In a separate executive order, which a fed- eral judge immediately blocked, the presi- dent attempted to freeze all federal grants. The two orders doubly impacted refugee resource centers reliant on the money. Trump’s second administration has fea- tured a rapid rollout of extreme immigration policies, signaling a crackdown on refugees. “[This is] another attempt by the Trump administration to harm immigrants and ref- ugees and people seeking to make their home in this country for the first time,” Johnson said. “But once they’re here, they all, for the most part, contribute immensely to our economy and to our culture and to the fabric of our community, especially in Dallas and Texas.” Refugees are legal immigrants who apply for asylum and are often facing life-or-death situations in their home countries. said Lo- renzo Pablo, the regional executive director for World Relief Texas, a local branch of a global humanitarian organization. In his expe- rience, most refugees don’t want to leave their homes but are left with no other choice, and the acclimation process is an uphill battle. “A lot of what we try to do is get them on a good pathway to make them feel wel- comed as they come here, that they don’t have to run for their lives anymore and truly get them settled,” he said. According to the Migration Policy Insti- tute, the United States has historically reset- tled more refugees than any other country annually. “Our country made a promise to them that we would help them here,” said John- son. “And the Trump administration, when they stopped this funding, was violating that promise. And I just don’t think that’s right.” Dallas Nonprofit Struggled World Relief Texas is an organization im- pacted by the delay. The nonprofit’s office has been assisting refugees with settling in North Texas since 1980. With the backing of its national office, the Dallas chapter was able to keep the doors open, but was forced to significantly reduce its staffing levels. “It was detrimental, the pause in the funding,” said Pablo. “Over 50%, probably closer to about 80%, of our funding comes from the designee with TXOR… We had to essentially rift some people or lay them off due to the funding. We weren’t getting any funding in.” Still having refugee clients to provide for despite the financial drought, the Dallas chapter cut its staff while trying to maintain all its programs. The organization began op- erating at a financial deficit, hoping the money would eventually come. “We did have a skeleton crew to help out, but we were hopeful. We were prayerful for the funding to come in, so we continued moving forward,” Pablo said. Since the federal money arrived, Pablo is considering reinstating some of the lost employees but says the future is still touch- and-go. “When the funding got released a couple of weeks ago, it allowed us to kind of replen- ish the funding deficit that we had,” he said. “It’s still kind of unstable. We don’t know. There’s a lot of different things that, again, we didn’t know could happen.” Pablo says he knew things would be dif- ferent in 2025, he just wasn’t sure to what extent that would be the case. “From the previous Trump administration, we were anticipating some changes, signifi- cant changes to the resettlement program,” he said. “We just didn’t expect it to be as quick as it was. And I don’t think anybody was really prepared because we still had clients. We still had clients that [had] just arrived and that we were no longer able to serve. With our TXOR program being paused, we really didn’t know how to continue and function.” Adobe Stock Texas was the only state to receive a delay in federal funding that affords refugee acclimation resources. Unfair Park from p6
