BOOM! Judge deals blow to Catholic Charities after bishops sue Trump over funds for refugee program

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On Thursday, a federal judge slapped down a lawsuit by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), who had sought to block the Trump administration from cutting off millions in funding for their refugee resettlement program.

U.S. District Judge Trevor McFadden, 46, a 2017 Trump appointee, denied the request for a temporary restraining order against the White House, and the gravy train flow has come to a screeching halt.

From the Daily Caller: The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) sued the Trump administration Tuesday over the State Department cutting funding for refugee assistance.

The lawsuit alleges USCCB “faces irreparable damage” due to the loss of funds, with millions of dollars already spent on nearly 7,000 refugees that will no longer be reimbursed following the Jan. 24 refugee funding suspension. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. are named as defendants, among others.

“The government’s sudden Refugee Funding Suspension is unlawful,” the lawsuit alleges. “It violates multiple statutes, including the Administrative Procedure Act (“APA”), and undermines the Constitution’s separation of powers.”

USCCB has been providing “resettlement services” for refugees in conjunction with the federal government since the enactment of the Refugee Act of 1980, the lawsuit says. The State Department’s sudden halt of the funds is an expansion of the Trump administration’s efforts to combat the illegal immigration crisis that ignited under former President Joe Biden and cut wasteful and unnecessary foreign aid.

USCCB complained that they have already had to fire 50 employees after the Trump administration cut off their money.

“[T]he Refugee Funding Suspension is arbitrary and capricious. For the first time in forty-five years, and without warning, the government has cut off funding to USCCB for the essential services USCCB provides to government-approved refugees, including refugees already placed with USCCB and its subrecipients,” the lawsuit states.

Now U.S. District Judge Trevor McFadden has ruled against the USCCB, and the funds for Catholic Charities’ refugee program remains frozen.

According to audited financial statements, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and its affiliate organizations raked in $14.6 million for refugee-assistance programs under the first Trump administration in 2019 .  That skyrocketed to $122.6 million in 2022, during the Biden administration.

Below are totals awarded to USCCB for the last two years of the first Trump administration, and the first two years of the Biden administration.

  • 2019 revenue: $14.6 million
  • 2020 revenue: $20.2 million
  • 2021 revenue: $67.5 million
  • 2022 revenue: $122.6 million

USASpending has revealed that USCCB was awarded over $450 million in refugee assistance grants from 2021-2024, during the Biden administration.  The grant awards include:

  • $138 million for refugee reception and placement services, with $38.4 million specifically for evacuated Afghan refugees
  • $110 million for the “Preferred Communities Program” (refugee aid program established in the 1990’s by the Office of Refugee Resettlement, includes one year of comprehensive assistance
  • $48.8 million for USCCB’s Unaccompanied Alien Children program
  • $66.1 million for general post-resettlement refugee assistance

BAM! DENIED! THE MONEY REMAINS FROZEN!

Although the lawsuit by USCCB was related to funding for legal refugee programs, Catholic Charities was also heavily involved in assisting illegal immigration.

The Biden administration’s open border policies allowed over 11 million illegal aliens to enter the United States between February 2011 and December 2024.  Catholic Charities groups across the country were raking in millions of dollars to provide ‘services’, including food, housing and transportation to the flood of illegal aliens pouring into the country.

The City Journal published a report on February 4, titled, “How the Catholic Church Became a Champion of Biden’s Open Borders.”

“The Catholic Church has indeed emerged as one of the largest government contractors of immigration services. In the process, it has not only rapidly expanded its role as a taxpayer-supported nonprofit but also became one of the chief facilitators of the Biden administration’s loose borders policy,” the report revealed.

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