US Conference of Catholic Bishops ends refugee resettlement program after USAID cuts

The US Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) announced on Monday that it will not be continuing its refugee resettlement program, citing "drastic" cuts in government funding. Specifically, the USCCB received funding through agencies such as USAID. The USCCB’s programs will shut down by the end of the fiscal year.

In an op-ed for the Washington Post, USCCB president Rev. Timothy Broglio said that the Trump administration’s January suspension of refugee resettlement programs "has made it too difficult for the bishops’ conference to continue operating our resettlement agency." 

He said that when government funds did not fully cover the costs of programs, "they were generously supported by the faithful." Now, however, "the work simply cannot be sustained at current levels or in its current forms with only the church’s resources."

He said that the end of the resettlement agency "does not mean walking away from helping refugees and others," and the church would find "new means to help those we have served in the past and will serve in the future."

Per the Washington Post, the USCCB’s program was one of 10 national resettlement groups whose contracts were suspended. The USCCB’s Migration and Refugee Services is the largest refugee resettlement agency in the world. The USCCB is also ending its support of migrant children who come to the US. 

The USCCB, which had partnered with the government for a half-century, resettles thousands of refugees per year on behalf of the government, with those accepted into the program undergoing "rigorous screening, as well as vetting by the government, before their arrival on American soil." 

The USCCB sued the Trump administration over the suspension of funding for its refugee resettlement program, claiming that they were never paid back for resettlement work already completed, totaling around $24 million. In mid-March, US District Judge Trevor McFadden ruled that his court did not have jurisdiction, to which the bishops have filed an appeal.