The US Division of Well being and Human Companies (HHS) is investigating what occurred to $30 million it despatched to a Muslim nonprofit to assist resettle Afghan refugees within the US, The Publish has realized.
The division is the most recent to look into the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) amid accusations it has ties to harmful teams in international nations together with terror group Hamas.
In letters to the governors of California and Washington, the place the $30 million was despatched, HHS — headed by Robert F. Kennedy Jr. — claims it has obtained data that “raises issues in regards to the enterprise practices and ethics of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) and CAIR-California.”
The June 9 letters to the 2 Democratic governors, written by the company’s Assistant Secretary for Monetary Sources, Gustav Chiarello, says HHS has been knowledgeable “there could also be connections between CAIR and the Muslim Brotherhood and its Palestinian department, Hamas.
“As chances are you’ll know, the USA Division of State has designated Hamas a International Terrorist Group. HHS takes these allegations very significantly because the division might not conduct enterprise with entities with ties to such designated organizations.
The letter goes on to say that the allegations are being investigated and if confirmed may lead to “suspension and proposed debarment.”
The governors of Texas and Florida each designated CAIR and the Muslim Brotherhood as international terrorist organizations and transnational legal organizations in 2025.
Washington, DC headquartered CAIR didn’t reply to The Publish’s request for remark. The group, led by Nationwide Govt Director Nihad Awad, strongly denies it has any ties to terror organizations, and says it solely operates within the US. It has additionally denied any ties to the Muslim Brotherhood.
Roughly 43,000 Afghanis resettled in California between 2016 and 2025 utilizing particular humanitarian visas, with Sacramento being the most typical space the place they went to stay, in line with information obtained by Abridged.org. Since President Trump returned to workplace, round 200-300 Afghans a month have been being admitted to the US in 2025, a quantity which has since dropped to zero.
HHS mentioned CAIR-CA’s most up-to-date audit report for 2024 reported recieving $36.45 million from its Workplace of Refugee Resettlement. In Washington State, HHS mentioned it has traced roughly $1.3 million in allotted to the CAIR-WA chapter from the Washington Division of Social and Well being Companies.
The US Division of Justice’s Govt Workplace for Immigration Assessment additionally started a probe final yr into the federal funds which CAIR-California was allotted to assist resettle Afghan refugees.
The letters despatched by HHS urged each California Governor Gavin Newsom and Washington Governor Bob Ferguson to contact the HHS Workplace of the Inspector Basic “if you’re conscious of any fraud or violations of related rules governing the administration of funds subgranted to CAIR.”
CAIR says it has supplied authorized providers to over 1,800 Afghan nationals utilizing its grants in California.
In his assertion designating CAIR as a terror group final yr, Texas gov. Greg Abbott accused them of supporting terrorism and being “radical extremists” who purpose to “subvert our legal guidelines by way of violence, intimidation and harassment.”
