Trump Admin Slashes Funding For Charity That Facilitates Mass Migration In The Identify Of Catholicism
The Trump Administration on Thursday terminated an $11 million federal contract with Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Miami.
The contract, which is managed by the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) within the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), funded shelter, foster care placement, family reunification, and supportive services for unaccompanied migrant children entering the United States without parents or guardians.
The program operated a dedicated facility, the Msgr. Bryan O. Walsh Children’s Village, with 81 beds, along with a network of vetted foster homes. It functioned as a federally funded child welfare system distinct from state programs for abused or neglected children.
“The U.S. government has abruptly decided to end more than 60 years of relationship with Catholic Charities in the Archdiocese of Miami. The Archdiocese of Miami’s services for unaccompanied minors have been recognized for their excellence and have served as a model for other agencies throughout the country,” said Archbishop Thomas Wenski of Miami.
“Our track record in serving this vulnerable population is unmatched. Yet, the Archdiocese of Miami’s Catholic Charities’ services for unaccompanied minors has been stripped of funding and will be forced to shut down within three months.”
He added that while the number of unaccompanied minors had declined, “it is baffling that the U.S. government would shut down a program that it would be hard-pressed to replicate at the level of competence and excellence that Catholic Charities has achieved.”
HHS press secretary Emily G. Hillard stated that ORR is “closing and consolidating unused facilities as the Trump Administration continues efforts to stop illegal entry and the smuggling and trafficking of unaccompanied alien children.”
She emphasized that the daily population of children in ORR care had fallen to approximately 1,900 under the current administration, down from a peak of 22,000 during the Biden years.
Catholic Charities agencies nationwide have participated extensively in federal migrant and refugee programs for decades. Through partnerships with the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) Migration and Refugee Services, local Catholic Charities offices have provided government-contracted services including refugee resettlement for individuals legally admitted and vetted by federal authorities and temporary shelter and transportation assistance for families processed and released by border officials
The USCCB has historically resettled approximately 18 percent of refugees entering the United States. These programs receive substantial federal funding, including more than $100 million annually in recent years for migration-related grants.