The USCCB says it will not renew agreements with the federal government after billions spent on migrant resettlement programs and a record number of missing children.

By yourNEWS Media Newsroom

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) announced Monday it would not renew its longstanding cooperative agreements with the federal government tied to refugee and migrant resettlement, ending a decades-long partnership that drew heavy scrutiny amid revelations of mass trafficking and financial windfalls.

According to Grok-AI, the Catholic Church’s network of resettlement agencies, including Catholic Charities, received as much as $1.4 billion in taxpayer funds in 2024 alone, with individual agency funding ranging from tens to hundreds of millions of dollars.

The move comes as the Biden administration faces criticism over its handling of the southern border, where nearly 20 million illegal aliens have crossed in four years. Catholic Charities played a central role in redistributing those migrants throughout the country.

During this period, more than 325,000 migrant children went missing while in U.S. custody or after resettlement, according to an August report by the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Inspector General. The report noted that the government “lost track of” those minors, leaving them “at higher risk for trafficking, exploitation, or forced labor.”

In its statement, the USCCB blamed the federal government’s “suspension of the cooperative agreements” for forcing the organization to “reconsider the best way to serve the needs of those seeking safe harbor from violence and persecution.” Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio, president of the USCCB, said the group was no longer able to sustain its programs without federal assistance.

“Today, the USCCB makes the heartbreaking announcement that we will not be renewing existing cooperative agreements with the federal government related to children’s services and refugee support,” the statement read.

The bishops described their actions over the years as “acts of pastoral care and charity” and framed their decision as a response to the government’s drastic program reductions. Still, the windfall from federal funds during the Biden years — peaking with $1.4 billion in 2024 — raised concerns about misuse of public funds and the consequences of unchecked migration.

Many of the children lost during this period remain unaccounted for. The Inspector General report indicated that recordkeeping failures and poor oversight contributed to the loss of contact with more than 320,000 minors, whose vulnerability to trafficking has sparked bipartisan concern in Congress.

The USCCB pledged to find “alternative means of support” for individuals already admitted into federal programs and to continue advocating for immigration policy reforms.

“This marks a painful end to a life-sustaining partnership with our government that has spanned decades across administrations of both political parties,” the bishops wrote, calling on Catholics nationwide to seek new ways to assist those in need.