Trump administration cuts $11M Catholic Charities Miami migrant contract

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The Trump administration canceled a longstanding contract with Catholic Charities in Miami, citing a drop in illegal immigration as an element amid tensions between the president and the Pope.

On Wednesday, Miami Archbishop Thomas Wenski wrote an op-ed for The Miami Herald lamenting the lack of an $11 million contract to assist take care of unaccompanied minors and migrant kids packages, which has been energetic for greater than 60 years. With out funding, Wenski warned, providers wouldn't even final the remainder of the 12 months.

"For greater than 60 years, the Archdiocese of Miami’s providers for unaccompanied minors have been acknowledged for his or her excellence and have served as a mannequin for different companies all through the nation," Wenski wrote.

"Our monitor document in serving this weak inhabitants is unmatched. But, the Archdiocese of Miami’s Catholic Charities’ providers for unaccompanied minors has been stripped of funding and might be compelled to close down inside three months."

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Miami Archbishop Thomas Wenski defended Catholic Charities and his archdiocese's work caring for migrant kids. (Jordan Vonderhaar/Bloomberg through Getty Photos)

In line with The Miami Herald, the administration knowledgeable Catholic Charities final month that funding can be canceled, previous to President Donald Trump's comments criticizing Pope Leo XIV for arguing with U.S. army motion in Iran.

Division of Well being and Human Providers press secretary Emily G. Hillard informed The Miami Herald that the choice was made as a result of the variety of unaccompanied minors crossing the border was now "considerably decrease" than it was underneath the Biden administration.

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"[The Office of Refugee Resettlement] is closing and consolidating unused amenities because the Trump Administration continues efforts to cease unlawful entry and the smuggling and trafficking of unaccompanied alien kids," Hillard stated.

The choice to chop federal grant funding got here previous to President Donald Trump's feedback attacking Pope Leo XIV. (Getty Photos)

In a remark to Fox News Digital , White Home deputy press secretary Kush Desai pointed to an X publish calling the article "faux information," including that the administration knowledgeable 49 charities, solely two of which had been Catholic, final 12 months that it will be slicing grants in direction of take care of migrant kids.

"Our traditionally safe border means fewer border crossings. That is good stewardship of taxpayer {dollars} made attainable by common sense border insurance policies that preserve the American individuals protected and shield our sovereignty," Desai wrote .

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In Wenski's opinion piece, he pushed again towards the argument that fewer unaccompanied minors was an appropriate cause to discontinue funding.

"It's true that the variety of unaccompanied minors coming into the nation has decreased. It is usually comprehensible that some packages could also be scaled again and even eradicated. However given the historical past and repute of Msgr. Bryan O. Walsh Kids’s Village, it's baffling that the U.S. authorities would shut down a program that it will be hard-pressed to copy on the stage of competence and excellence that Catholic Charities has achieved if and when future waves of unaccompanied minors attain our shores," Wenski wrote.

The Trump administration has defended ending contracts with a number of charities, together with Catholic ones, concerning take care of unlawful immigrant kids. (Mark Schiefelbein/AP Photograph; Adekunle Ajayi/Getty Photos)

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The Archdiocese of Miami pointed Fox Information Digital to Wenski's op-ed when reached for remark.

Lindsay Kornick is an affiliate editor for Fox Information Digital. Story suggestions may be despatched to lindsay.kornick@fox.com and on Twitter: @lmkornick.