Amid quarrel with pope, Trump strips Miami charity of funding to house migrant kids [View all]
The Trump administration has abruptly canceled an $11 million contract with Catholic Charities to shelter and care for migrant children who enter the U.S. alone, ending a relationship between the Catholic Church and the U.S. government dating back to the first arrivals of Cuban exiles in South Florida.
The development comes amid rising tensions between the administration and American Catholics over President Donald Trumps heated criticism of the Vaticans first American pope, Leo XIV. The pontiff has made opposition to the U.S. war with Iran, as well as concern for the welfare of migrants, a cornerstone of his ministry.
The Office of Refugee Resettlement, part of the federal Department of Health and Human Services, has paid Catholic Charities in Miami for several years to house immigrant children who enter the U.S. without parents or adult supervision. The non-profit operates the equivalent of a federally funded foster care system, separate and apart from state agencies that have custody of abused and neglected children. The federal government reached out to the charity in late March about the cancellation of the funding.
The Archdiocese of Miami said late Tuesday that Archbishop Thomas Wenski was not immediately available to discuss the contracts cancellation or the Trump Administrations rift with the church. But it shared a statement that Wenski, a longtime immigrant-rights advocate, wrote for the Miami Heralds editorial board.
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https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/immigration/article315410233.html#storylink=cpy
Trump heard the phrase âsuffer the little childrenâ and said hold my Diet Coke.
— Philip Gourevitch (@pgourevitch.bsky.social) 2026-04-15T21:02:25.642Z