The Trump administration cancelled an $11 million federal contract with Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Miami, ending a program that sheltered and cared for unaccompanied migrant children in South Florida for more than 60 years.
The Office of Refugee Resettlement, part of the Department of Health and Human Services, administered the contract, which funded an 81-bed shelter — the Msgr. Bryan O. Walsh Children’s Village — along with foster homes and family reunification services for children arriving without parents or guardians. Catholic Charities has three months before the program shuts down.
Archbishop Thomas Wenski condemned the decision, and said “the U.S. government has abruptly decided to end more than 60 years of relationship with Catholic Charities in the Archdiocese 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.”
HHS cited a sharp decline in border crossings as justification — the daily population of unaccompanied minors in federal care now stands at 1,900, down from a peak of 22,000 under Biden. A spokesperson framed the closure as part of efforts to “stop illegal entry and the smuggling and trafficking of unaccompanied alien children.” It remains unclear how many children are currently in Catholic Charities’ care or where they will go.
Robert Latham, associate director of the University of Miami Law School’s Children and Youth Law Clinic, warned that relocation would be deeply damaging. “It’s incredibly psychologically harmful to be moved,” he said. “For little kids, moving repeatedly creates bonding issues and destroys the sense of both self and community. They don’t know who they are and where they will be from day to day.”
Pope Leo XIV — the first American pope — has made opposition to the US-Iran war and concern for migrants central to his papacy. Trump has called the pontiff “weak on crime” and “terrible for foreign policy,” and claimed Leo only became pope because of him. Leo responded that he has “no fear of the Trump administration” and would continue speaking out.
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At a Turning Point USA event on April 14, Vice President JD Vance — a Catholic convert — told the crowd the Pope should “be careful when he talks about matters of theology.”
Within 12 hours, the USCCB’s Committee on Doctrine issued a formal rebuttal. Bishop James Massa, the committee’s chairman, wrote that “when Pope Leo XIV speaks as supreme pastor of the universal Church, he is not merely offering opinions on theology, he is preaching the Gospel and exercising his ministry as the Vicar of Christ.”
A March NBC News poll of 1,000 registered voters found Pope Leo’s net favorability at +34 points — the highest of any public figure tested. Trump’s stood at -12.
Trump won 55% of Catholic voters in 2024, with religion a central pillar of the campaign. A Fox News poll, conducted March 20-23, found that had reversed: 52% of Catholics now disapprove of Trump’s job performance, with only 48% approving. The same survey found 60% of Catholics disapprove of how Trump has handled the Iran conflict, and net approval for military action against Iran among Catholics stands at -10 points.
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