A charity that helps Latino immigrants has returned a $14,000 county grant, highlighting a growing rift with County Executive John R. Leopold.

Irene Zoppi, executive director of the Centro de Ayuda, at first quietly returned the money. But on Friday, she reacted to the way Mr. Leopold's office announced that the funding had been shifted to a church group for a citizenship program.

"Although ostensibly to support a citizenship program, Mr. Leopold's offer came with strings attached that violate human rights, principles of our American democracy and freedom," she wrote in a prepared statement.

Tension has simmered between...