The city of Arlington said the funding is used to help manage public safety at major events like Cowboys games and the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
ARLINGTON, Texas — A multi-million dollar grant program relied upon by North Texas cities to keep major events safe from terror attacks is in limbo as the Department of Homeland Security said it has not made a decision on whether to continue it, months after the funding is typically made available.
The Urban Area Security Initiative (UASI) has dispensed millions of dollars to Fort Worth, Arlington, and Dallas on an annual basis — used for everything from funding emergency management jobs and building safety infrastructure to paying for training and purchasing equipment, records indicated.
But this year the money has been in limbo — on hold as the federal government evaluates spending on grant programs. A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson said only “no decision has been made on the UASI grant” in response to questions from WFAA.
FEMA, which administers the program, did not respond to a request for comment.
The uncertainty has led North Texas cities to lobby federal representatives in an effort to get the funding released.
“We are critically reliant on this money, and I don’t know what we’ll do if we don’t get it,” Arlington Mayor Jim Ross said.
With the World Cup and Arlington Grand Prix looming in 2026, knowing whether the funding will be available is critical, he said.
“Millions of people will be coming to Arlington,” Ross said. “They expect to be kept safe. We’re going to keep them the safest we can keep them here, but we could sure use the money.”
More than a million dollars annually helps Arlington pay for additional personnel for event management and command and armored vehicles that the police department deploys to major events, an Arlington Police Department spokesperson said.
“We take great pride in our efforts to ensure the public can have a fun, safe time while they’re in our city,” the spokesperson said. “UASI grant funding has been invaluable to our success.”
Dallas has received about $6 million per year from UASI in recent years, a document provided by the city indicated.
The money was used in the 2024 grant cycle to purchase ballistic helmets for DPD officers and provide training for police helicopter pilots, search and rescue and HAZMAT teams, among others, the document showed.
In previous years, the city has used the funding to pay for 18 emergency management employees, its “Fusion Center,” mass casualty training for firefighters and cybersecurity tools, among others, the city document indicated.
“The UASI funding is key to ensuring Dallas and the region are prepared to plan for, prevent, respond to, and recover from any acts of terrorism,” said Dallas Council member Cara Mendelsohn, the chair of the city’s Public Safety Committee.
“We’ve been working closely with our Dallas delegation and Texas senators to secure this funding for many months,” she added. “We’re grateful for their help to ensure funding is available.”
A spokesperson for the city of Dallas said the city is still waiting for official word on the funding and is looking at its options.
Millions of dollars have also flowed to Fort Worth from the program, records show. An allocation last year indicated more than $3 million from UASI would be used to fund nine emergency management jobs and for its bomb squad and emergency management teams, among others.
“We’re going to have to find some way of getting the funds necessary to protect the people here,” said Mayor Ross. “It certainly makes it far more challenging to keep people safe during major events.”
Last week, Congressperson Julie Johnson (D-Dallas) was among several Democrats to sign a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem urging the department to publish months-overdue “notices of funding availabilities” for the UASI grant and others that had been withheld.
At a Congressional hearing earlier this month, acting FEMA Chair David Richardson said the agency was getting the notices “out the door as we speak,” CNN reported.
But while some grants have been noticed since, the UASI program — the largest of the bunch — was still not made available, a source within the city of Dallas said.
“That’s going to significantly impact cities all over the country if we don’t get any of that money,” Ross said. “We need to know.”