St. Paul is preparing to reopen its emergency rental assistance program to help residents impacted by Operation Metro Surge.
Many immigrants stayed home during the height of federal operation and lost income as a result. Advocates say many are still struggling to pay rent. City leaders say a recently revived emergency rental assistance program may help.
More than $2.5 million in funding is available, after the City Council recently allocated an additional $500,000 for the program and also plans to hire more staff to process applications.
St. Paul’s emergency rental assistance application will open on April 1. The application will be open for two days, and applicants will be entered into a lottery system.
On April 3, applicants will be notified if they made the lottery. If they are not selected, residents can apply again beginning May 1. The application will be open the first two days of each month.
St. Paul’s emergency rental assistance program was created in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic. It was revived in November 2025 after the city allocated a new round of funding and expanded the program’s guidelines.
The city received more than 600 applications when the window opened in November and had to pause the program so staff could review them.
The city is now opening the application window for two days at a time to make the process more efficient and so funding can be distributed quickly, said St. Paul City Council Member Cheniqua Johnson. When applications were previously submitted on a rolling basis, it took more time for residents to find out if they qualified.
“We want to ensure that we keep our promise to St. Paul residents that when we say ‘emergency,’ we want to be able to also act on that on the back end,” Johnson said.
More information about how to apply to the program and eligibility can be found here. Eligible residents can receive up to $3,500, which will be paid to the landlord. Tenants can only receive one payment a year.
The St. Paul funding does not require the tenant to have an eviction case already filed against them. Tenants do need to provide documentation of having past due rent, such as a notification from their landlord or a pre-eviction notice.
Rental assistance is also available through Ramsey County.
