NEW ORLEANS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug 19, 2025--
The Federal Home Loan Bank of Dallas (FHLB Dallas) awarded a $14,245 Disaster Rebuilding Assistance (DRA) grant through its member, Home Bank, to a New Orleans, Louisiana, homeowner whose roof was damaged by Hurricane Ida in 2021.
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Joyce Burns used the funds to replace her roof, which had persistent leaks that caused water to seep into several rooms in her home. She now has a FORTIFIED roof, designed to withstand damage from hurricanes, high winds, hail and severe thunderstorms.
“I’m so thankful for my new roof,” Mrs. Burns said. “Now when it rains, I don’t have to worry about leaks.”
Mrs. Burns, 78, a retired pre-K teacher, has lived in her New Orleans, Louisiana, home for almost 50 years.
Administered through FHLB Dallas member institutions, DRA provides grants for the repair, rehabilitation and reconstruction of owner-occupied housing affected by disaster events in federally declared disaster areas within FHLB Dallas’s five-state District of Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Mexico and Texas.
“FHLB Dallas DRA grants give us the tools and resources to respond effectively when our communities are affected by disaster,” said Kelvin Luster, senior vice president and director of Community Development at Home Bank. “This support makes a real difference in people’s lives.”
For 2025, FHLB Dallas set aside $4 million for the DRA program, with the final $2 million round available beginning September 2.
“Helping families rebuild and recover is at the heart of the DRA program,” said Greg Hettrick, senior vice president and director of Community Investment at FHLB Dallas. “Funding is directed to those who need it most, supporting communities as they work to move forward after a disaster.”
Learn more about the DRA program.
About Home Bank
Home Bank, N.A., founded in 1908 as Home Building & Loan, is the oldest financial institution founded in Lafayette Parish. Home Bank now serves markets in South Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas in 43 locations. Home Bank is committed to serving the needs in their communities. Personal banking has always been Home Bank’s trademark and that tradition continues as they grow, invest, and serve their clients and community. Every day, the Home Bank team lives out their values, focusing on integrity, innovation and a commitment to serving others. For more information about Home Bank, visit www.home24bank.com.
About the Federal Home Loan Bank of Dallas
The Federal Home Loan Bank of Dallas is one of 11 district banks in the FHLBank System created by Congress in 1932. FHLB Dallas, with total assets of $116.1 billion as of June 30, 2025, is a member-owned cooperative that supports housing and community development by providing competitively priced loans and other credit products to approximately 800 members and associated institutions in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Mexico and Texas. For more information, visit fhlb.com.
A New Orleans, Louisiana, homeowner received a $14,245 grant for a new roof from FHLB Dallas through Home Bank via the Disaster Rebuilding Assistance grant program.
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Border Patrol commander Gregory Bovino is expected to leave Minneapolis on Tuesday, according a person familiar with the matter, as the Trump administration reshuffles leadership of its immigration enforcement operation and scales back the federal presence after a second fatal shooting by federal officers.
President Donald Trump said he was placing his border czar, Tom Homan, in charge of the mission, with Homan reporting directly to the White House, after Bovino drew condemnation for claiming the man who was killed, Alex Pretti, had been planning to “massacre” law enforcement officers, a characterization that authorities had not substantiated.
Saturday's fatal shooting of Pretti, an ICU nurse, by Border Patrol agents ignited political backlash and raised fresh questions about how the operation was being run.
Bovino’s leadership of highly visible federal crackdowns, including operations that sparked mass demonstrations in Los Angeles, Chicago, Charlotte and Minneapolis, has drawn fierce criticism from local officials, civil rights advocates and congressional Democrats.
A person familiar with the matter told The Associated Press that Bovino is among the federal agents leaving Minneapolis. The person was not authorized to publicly discuss details of the operation and spoke to AP on condition of anonymity.
The departure accompanies a softer tone from Trump on the Minnesota crackdown, including the president's touting of productive conversations with the governor and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey.
The mayor said he asked Trump in a phone call to end the immigration enforcement surge, and Trump agreed the present situation cannot continue. Frey said he would keep pushing for others involved in Operation Metro Surge to go.
Homan will take charge of Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations in Minnesota. Frey said he planned to meet Homan on Tuesday.
Trump and Democratic Gov. Tim Walz spoke in a phone call and later offered comments that were a marked change from the critical statements they have exchanged in the past. Their conversation happened on the same day a federal judge heard arguments in a lawsuit aimed at halting the federal immigration enforcement surge in the state.
“We, actually, seemed to be on a similar wavelength,” the president wrote in a social media post.
Walz, in a statement, said the call was “productive" and that impartial investigations into the shootings were needed. Trump said his administration was looking for “any and all” criminals the state has in their custody. Walz said the state Department of Corrections honors federal requests for people in its custody.
Meanwhile, attorneys for the administration, the state and the cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul appeared Monday before U.S. District Judge Katherine Menendez, who is considering whether to grant requests to temporarily halt the immigration operation.
She said the case was a priority, but in an order later Monday, she told the federal government’s attorneys to file an additional brief by 6 p.m. Wednesday. She told them to address, among other things, the assertion by the state and cities that the purpose of Operation Metro Surge is to punish them for their sanctuary laws and policies.
Lawyers for the state and the Twin Cities argued the situation on the street is so dire it requires the court to halt the federal government’s enforcement actions.
“If this is not stopped right here, right now, I don’t think anybody who is seriously looking at this problem can have much faith in how our republic is going to go in the future,” Minnesota Assistant Attorney General Brian Carter said.
The judge questioned the government’s motivation behind the crackdown and expressed skepticism about a letter Attorney General Pam Bondi recently sent to Walz. The letter asked the state to give the federal government access to voter rolls, to turn over state Medicaid and food assistance records, and to repeal sanctuary policies.
“I mean, is there no limit to what the executive can do under the guise of enforcing immigration law?” Menendez asked. She noted that the federal requests are the subject of litigation.
Brantley Mayers, a Justice Department attorney, said the government's goal is to enforce federal law. Mayers said one lawful action should not be used to discredit another lawful action.
Menendez questioned where the line was between violating the Constitution and the executive's power to enforce the law. She also asked whether she was being asked to decide between state and federal policies.
“That begins to feel very much like I am deciding which policy approach is best,” she said.
At one point, while discussing the prospect of federal officers entering residences without a warrant, the judge expressed reluctance to decide issues not yet raised in a lawsuit before her.
The state of Minnesota and the cities sued the Department of Homeland Security earlier this month, five days after Renee Good was shot by an Immigration and Customs officer. Pretti's shooting added urgency to the case.
Late Monday, a federal appeals court declined to lift a temporary hold on a ruling Menendez issued in a separate case on Jan. 16. She ruled then that federal officers in Minnesota cannot detain or tear gas peaceful protesters who are not obstructing authorities, including people who follow and observe agents. A three-judge panel of the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals said that ruling was unlikely to hold up on appeal.
News of Bovino's departure didn't stop dozens of protestors from gathering outside a hotel where they believed Bovino was staying. They blew whistles, banged pots and one person blasted a trombone. Police watched and kept them away from the hotel entrance.
Trump posted Monday on social media that Homan would report directly to him.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Homan would be “the main point of contact on the ground in Minneapolis” during continued operations by federal immigration officers.
In court Monday, an attorney for the administration said about 2,000 Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers were on ground, along with at least 1,000 Border Patrol officers.
The lawsuit asks the judge to order a reduction in the number of federal law enforcement officers and agents in Minnesota back to the level before the surge and to limit the scope of the enforcement operation.
The case has implications for other states that have been or could become targets of ramped-up federal immigration enforcement operations. Attorneys general from 19 states plus the District of Columbia, led by California, filed a friend-of-the-court brief supporting Minnesota.
In yet another case, a different federal judge, Eric Tostrud, took under advisement a request from the Justice Department to lift an order he issued late Saturday blocking the Trump administration from “destroying or altering evidence” related to Saturday’s shooting.
Attorneys for the state Bureau of Criminal Apprehension told the judge they can’t trust the federal government to preserve the evidence, citing the lack of cooperation the state is getting from federal authorities after they said they were blocked from the scene.
But the federal government’s attorneys argued that the temporary restraining order should be dissolved because its investigators are already following proper preservation procedures, and they’d object to “micromanaging” from the court what evidence the state can examine while the federal investigation is ongoing.
Balsamo reported from Washington. Associated Press writers Jack Brook in Minneapolis, Giovanna Dell’Orto in St. Paul, Minnesota, and Mike Catalini in Trenton, New Jersey, contributed to this report.
FILE - U.S. Border Patrol Cmdr. Gregory Bovino walks through a Target store Jan. 11, 2026, in St. Paul, Minn. (AP Photo/Adam Gray, File)
A man, center left, next to a Minneapolis police officer grabs a protester in the doorway during a noise demonstration protest in response to federal immigration enforcement operations in the city Sunday, Jan. 25, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Adam Gray)
Federal agents try to clear demonstrators near a hotel, using tear gas during a noise demonstration protest in response to federal immigration enforcement operations in the city Sunday, Jan. 25, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Adam Gray)
A federal agent points a weapon at a person outside a hotel during a noise demonstration protest in response to federal immigration enforcement operations in the city Sunday, Jan. 25, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Adam Gray)
A federal agent stands guard near a hotel during a noise demonstration protest in response to federal immigration enforcement operations in the city Sunday, Jan. 25, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Adam Gray)
Attorney General Keith Ellison speaks during a news conference in Blaine, Minn., Sunday, Jan. 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)
Attorney General Keith Ellison, right, and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz give a news conference in Blaine, Minn., Sunday, Jan. 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)
