US Bishops Respond To Vance's Criticism

Catholic Charities shocking video instructing Illegals on how to avoid ICE.

You tax dollars fund this sh*t. They receive millions in Government grants. pic.twitter.com/LtG0OLGYwr

— Juanita Broaddrick (@atensnut) January 27, 2025

Via Catholic News Agency:

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) on Sunday argued that its long-standing refugee program is a “work of mercy” after Vice President JD Vance criticized the bishops’ positions on immigration issues.'

. . . The USCCB on Sunday argued that its own work with refugees is part of a “long history” of Catholic advocacy for vulnerable migrants.

“In 1980, the bishops of the United States began partnering with the federal government to carry out this service when Congress created the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP),” the bishops said in the statement, which did not mention Vance.

“Every person resettled through USRAP is vetted and approved for the program by the federal government while outside of the United States,” they said.

“In our agreements with the government, the USCCB receives funds to do this work; however, these funds are not sufficient to cover the entire cost of these programs.”

“Nonetheless, this remains a work of mercy and ministry of the Church,” the bishops said.

The USCCB statement didn't directly mention Vance. However, in his exchange with Margaret Brennan, Vance said, in reference to USRAP, via the link,

“In fact, we know that there are cases of people who allegedly were properly vetted and then were literally planning terrorist attacks in our country,” Vance argued. “So clearly, not all of these foreign nationals have been properly vetted.”

In part, this may come down to which program is which and who's paying for what. There continue to be questions about whether programs that come through Catholic Charities are consistent with federal policies if the money going to Catholic Charities for the particular programs is federal, a problem that I raised in yesterday's post with regard to Springfield, OH. But today I saw an equivalent problem in Milwaukee:

Catholic Charities Milwaukee is outrageously advising illegal aliens on refusing to comply with ICE, demanding rights they do not have, lying about U.S. laws, requesting help from foreign officials in undermining immigration law enforcement, and more.

The infamous video in question begins with a woman, Barb Graham, introducing herself as “an attorney at Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Milwaukee in the Refugee and Immigration Services Program.” She claims to be helping illegal aliens to understand their “rights” if ICE comes to arrest them. “All people living in the United States, including people who are undocumented, have certain rights under the United States Constitution,” she asserts.

This is simply false. Illegal aliens do not have constitutional rights, because they are not citizens. . . . Foreign nationals who violate our laws to be in the United States do not have constitutional rights. And illegal aliens who are dangerous criminals certainly do not have constitutional rights that prevent them from being deported.

. . . Again, foreign nationals who have committed crimes — and, as Homan has emphasized, every illegal has committed a crime by being here in America — do not have constitutional rights, and ICE can indeed arrest illegal aliens without judicial warrants. The Trump administration needs to investigate Catholic Charities Milwaukee for its illegal and outrageous actions. After all, obstructing an ICE arrest is a federal crime.

Again, a key technical factor here is whether the federal money going to Catholic Charities is being spent according to the federal guidelines. Encouraging people to violate the law is probably not within the guidelines, and misinforming people about their rights under the law is probably not, either.

I notice just this morning that the Trump administration has temporarily suspended all federal grants and loans pendiong review:

This strategic pause, orchestrated by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), is designed to facilitate a comprehensive review of federal financial assistance programs, ensuring that taxpayer dollars are utilized efficiently and in accordance with the administration’s objectives.

. . . While the suspension is comprehensive, it does not affect Social Security, Medicare, or other programs that provide direct assistance to individuals.

Federal agencies have been instructed to identify and review all financial assistance programs and report back to the OMB by February 10, detailing any programs subject to the pause and identifying any legally mandated actions or deadlines.

The federal money that goes to the Catholic Church, which amounts to a little over $100 million a year, may be small enough that it escapes initial scrutiny, especially since the primary target of the pause is grants connected with DEI, gender ideology, and the Green New Deal. But there's an additional problem of programs that simply give the Church a bad look.

After a raid on Tren de Aragua apartments in San Antonio, Catholic Charities had to clarify its role:

We first broke the story this weekend with an exclusive pre-dawn video when almost 300 apartments were hit near the San Antonio International Airport.

Catholic Charities officials in San Antonio clarified their role in assisting migrants today.

Antonio Fernandez explained that Catholic Charities has a contract with the Office of Refugee Resettlement or ORR to manage the funds they have for migrants specifically from warn-torn countries. Catholic Charities then helps those in the ORR program with basic needs.“We provide housing for refugees from Ukraine, Afghanistan, and other nations,” he said. “However, those who arrive through the southern border without proper legal status do not qualify for our housing assistance.”

The Milwaukee video has also brought unwanted attention to Catholic Charities from politicians besides Vance:

Rep. Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.) called for Catholic Charities USA to be defunded in a post on X in which he flagged DOGE, President Trump’s newly minted Department of Government Efficiency.

In a follow-up statement to The Post, Burchett took aim at the charitable group for playing politics on the immigrant crisis.

“These nongovernmental organizations and Catholic charities have pushed a mind-blowing number of illegals into our country over the past four years. It’s happening on both sides of the border. They’re using your tax dollars, and they’re not doing anybody any favors,” he said.

He added: “Our priority should be finding the 300,000-plus kids these NGOs and Catholic charities lost, not giving legal advice to people who broke the law and are inside the US illegally.”

I keep harping on crisis management here. The US bishops need to recognize that they're facing a potential crisis that could reach the level of the child sexual abuse crisis of the early 2000s that brought the careers of several US cardinals to an ignominious end. If there's a public perception that the bishops aren't with the program of restricting illegal immigration -- a public duty entirely consistent with the Catechism and other teachings of the Church -- the bishops will be responsible for another serious blow to their prestige.

For now, it looks like at least some spokespeople for Catholic Charities are following the right course, as in San Antonio, of transparancy in explaining the actual programs, showing that they're in conformance with the law, and doing anything possible to eliminate the impression that they're sheltering or assisting lawbreakers.

Vice President Vance, a good Catholic, has taken what looks like a productive approach in urging the bishops to be "good partners" in this effort. They'll help themselves most by consistently explaining how their assistance programs conform to the law and further the overall social goals expressed in the Church's teachings -- especially when they honestly explain what those goals entail.