Trump Rips Away $11 Million from Catholic Charity Amid War with Pope

The Trump administration has yanked an $11 million federal contract from a Miami Catholic nonprofit that has spent decades caring for migrant children who arrive in the United States alone, triggering outrage and deep fear over what happens next to some of the country’s most vulnerable kids.

Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Miami has long worked with the federal government to shelter and support unaccompanied migrant children through the Office of Refugee Resettlement, a branch of the Department of Health and Human Services. But in late March, according to The Miami Herald, the group was suddenly told that funding was being cut off, severing a partnership church leaders say had been in place for more than 60 years.

The official explanation from the Trump administration is that fewer migrant children are currently in government custody. HHS says the number of unaccompanied minors in ORR care has fallen to about 1,900, down dramatically from a peak of 22,000 during the Biden administration. The agency says it is consolidating facilities as part of Trump’s broader immigration crackdown.

But for many in Miami, that explanation is not enough.

The stunning cut comes as Trump’s feud with Pope Leo XIV has exploded into public view. After the pope repeatedly criticized the administration over war and immigration, Trump lashed out in a social media post, calling the pontiff “weak” on crime and “terrible” on foreign policy, even telling him to “get his act together as Pope.” Now critics are asking whether this latest move is really about efficiency — or whether Trump is once again using vulnerable migrants as collateral damage in a political vendetta.

Miami Archbishop Thomas Wenski made clear just how devastating the fallout could be. In comments shared with The Miami Herald, Wenski said the federal government had abruptly ended a relationship with Catholic Charities that had lasted more than six decades, despite the group’s nationally recognized record of caring for unaccompanied minors.

He warned that the program could be forced to shut down within three months, gutting services that have long been seen as a model for the rest of the country. While Wenski acknowledged that lower migration numbers could justify scaling back some operations, he said it was baffling that officials would destroy a program with this level of experience, competence, and trust.

Across Miami’s Catholic community, the reaction has been raw. Parishioners told CBS News Miami they were shocked, angry, and heartbroken. Father Federico Capdepom, who served in the Archdiocese for 33 years before retiring, said he was deeply saddened by the abrupt decision and called the loss of millions in aid for migrant children totally unacceptable.

One local parishioner put it even more bluntly, calling the move disgraceful.

And the biggest question still hanging in the air is the most disturbing one of all: what happens to the children already in the program if it disappears? There has been no clear public answer about where they would go, who would take over their care, or whether another organization could step in fast enough to prevent chaos.

For critics, the message behind the funding cut is hard to ignore. Trump’s immigration machine is not just targeting the border anymore. It is bulldozing humanitarian programs, undercutting faith-based groups, and leaving children in limbo while political grudges and culture-war theatrics take center stage.

If this program collapses, it will not be Trump or his allies who pay the price. It will be migrant children who came here alone and now face being tossed into even more uncertainty.