Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Miami has been sheltering unaccompanied migrant children since the 1960s, through multiple administrations, multiple immigration crises, and multiple popes.
This week, the Donald Trump administration canceled its $11 million federal contract, leaving the program with roughly three months before it shuts down entirely.
That clock is now ticking.
Miami Archbishop Thomas Wenski weighed in on the decision. “The U.S. government has abruptly decided to end more than 60 years of relationship with Catholic Charities in the Archdiocese of Miami,” he wrote.
He pointed to what’s being lost.
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“The Archdiocese of Miami’s services for unaccompanied minors have been recognized for their excellence and have served as a model for other agencies throughout the country.” He called it “baffling that the U.S. government would shut down a program that it would be hard-pressed to replicate at the level of competence” shown by the church.
And the human cost was not abstract.
“You don’t cross several borders, if you’re 10 or 12-years-old, without being exposed and suffering trauma.”
The administration, for its part, kept things simple.
A spokesperson for the Department of Health and Human Services pointed to lower numbers, with 1,900 unaccompanied minors currently in care compared to a peak of around 22,000 under the previous administration.
Wenski acknowledged that shift. The conclusion, however, didn’t follow.
Scaling down is one option. Eliminating the program is another.
Inside the church, the tone sharpened.
Father Federico Capdepon voiced his concern. “I feel very sad, disappointed,” he said. “The children that we have helped for so many, many years, to cancel abruptly $11 million for helping migrants, I think, is totally unacceptable.”
Others voiced similar concerns.
A parishioner called the move “disgraceful,” pointing to more than 14,000 unaccompanied minors the church has helped, including children fleeing Cuba whose parents entrusted them to Catholic Charities.
The decision lands in the middle of an ongoing feud between Donald Trump and Pope Leo XIV, who has repeatedly criticized the Iran war and called for humane treatment of migrants. Trump fired back, calling the pope “WEAK on Crime, and terrible for Foreign Policy,” and only removed an AI image of himself as Jesus after backlash from his own Catholic supporters.
The tone hasn’t softened.
Tom Homan, Trump’s border czar, went on Newsmax to push back at church leaders, saying they should “sit down and let me educate them,” while adding that he was “disappointed” they were weighing in on political issues.
The church’s stance on children, apparently, falls into that category, which brings the focus back to the children.
Their next steps remain uncertain. Robert Latham warned that relocating them could be “incredibly psychologically harmful,” especially for younger children.
“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.”
Featured image via Political Tribune Gallery
