Catholic bishops sue Trump admin over suspension of refugee program funding

The US Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) has filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration after funding was halted for its refugee resettlement program. The lawsuit is based on the Refugee Act of 1980, under which the USCCB has worked with the government to resettle more than 930,000 refugees.

"For decades, the US government has chosen to admit refugees and outsourced its statutory responsibility to provide those refugees with resettlement assistance to non-profit organizations like USCCB," the lawsuit states. "But now, after refugees have arrived and been placed in USCCB’s care, the government is attempting to pull the rug out from under USCCB’s programs by halting funding." 

Shortly after President Donald Trump took office, the State Department’s Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration issued a suspension letter for the program. According to the lawsuit, USCCB has not received reimbursement from the State Department up to Jan. 24, despite assurances in the letter that it would. The conference is also arguing that the administration’s decision to cut off congressionally approved funding is illegal, according to Fox News.

USCCB has stated that the freeze has forced it to issue layoff notices to 50 employees in Migration and Refugee Services, more than half of its staff.

“The Catholic Church always works to uphold the common good of all and promote the dignity of the human person, especially the most vulnerable among us,” said USCCB president Archbishop Timothy Broglio, according to the Associated Press. “That includes the unborn, the poor, the stranger, the elderly and infirm, and migrants.” 

“The conference suddenly finds itself unable to sustain its work to care for the thousands of refugees who were welcomed into our country and assigned to the care of the USCCB by the government after being granted legal status,” Broglio added.

Vice President JD Vance, a Catholic convert, has previously criticized the bishops' conference for resettling “illegal immigrants” to receive millions in federal funding, a reference to the resettlement program. In an interview last month, Vance argued that the conference “has, frankly, not been a good partner in common sense immigration enforcement that the American people voted for."