US bishops end refugee partnership with government after Trump cuts

The bishops’ announcement came after policy changes by the Trump administration to cut funding from refugee programmes.

“While this marks a painful end to a life-sustaining partnership with our government that has spanned decades across administrations of both political parties, it offers every Catholic an opportunity to search our hearts for new ways to assist,” said USCCB president Archbishop Timothy Broglio on April 7.

For four-and-a-half decades, the USCCB had partnered with the federal government to provide services that help resettle refugees and support minors who entered the country without a parent or guardian, or are separated from their families.

“All participants in these programmes were welcomed by the US government to come to the United States,” Archbishop Broglio said. “These are displaced souls who see in America a place of dreams and hope.”

During the Biden administration, the federal government provided more than US$100 million annually to the bishops, who redirected those funds to affiliated Catholic organisations that provided services. In recent years, the federal funding covered more than 95 per cent of the expenses.

The Trump administration alleged that these programmes strain both federal and local social services and facilitate unsustainable migration into the United States. It therefore halted the entry of new refugees and ended federal support for programmes that fund USCCB affiliates and other nongovernmental organisations that provide migrant and refugee services.

In February, the USCCB laid off 50 employees and sued the Trump administration over the funding freeze.

Archbishop Broglio said the USCCB “simply cannot sustain the work on our own at current levels or in current form”. He added that the bishops “will work to identify alternative means of support for the people the federal government has already admitted to these programmes”.

The USCCB president indicated that the organisation “will continue advocating for policy reforms that provide orderly, secure immigration processes, ensuring the safety of everyone in our communities”. The USCCB will also “remain steadfast in our commitment to advocating on behalf of men, women and children suffering the scourge of human trafficking”.

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Catholic bishops end refugee partnership with government amid Trump funding cuts | Catholic News Agency (By Tyler Arnold/CNA)