Trump Administration Cut Off Funding Of Catholic Charities

The Trump administration has terminated an $11 million federal contract with Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Miami. The cut ends a decades-long partnership that provided shelter and care for unaccompanied migrant children arriving in the United States without parents or guardians. The Office of Refugee Resettlement delivered the notice in late March, giving the charity just three months to relocate the children in its care.

NaijaChoice News reports that the Miami Herald first broke the story on April 15, confirming the abrupt end to the arrangement. The exact number of children affected has not been made public. Church officials say the programme operated like a federally funded foster care network separate from state systems.

The decision forms part of the administration’s aggressive immigration crackdown. Last year, the same government ended a long-standing collaboration with the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops on refugee resettlement. For more than 60 years, Catholic Charities in Miami had housed and supported vulnerable minors at the border under contract with the Department of Health and Human Services.

Archbishop Thomas Wenski of Miami described the termination as “baffling”. In an opinion piece, he praised the charity’s unmatched track record and warned that services tied to unaccompanied minors could shut down within months. Local religious and political leaders, including some from the president’s own party, have criticised the move.

Federal officials point to a sharp decline in arrivals as the main reason for the cut. The population of unaccompanied children under care has fallen from a peak of 22,000 during the previous administration to around 1,900 now. They insist the reduction reflects tighter border controls rather than any targeting of faith-based groups.

The development has drawn mixed reactions across the United States. Supporters of the policy hail it as proof that stricter enforcement is working. Critics, however, argue it leaves some of the most vulnerable children without reliable support.

In Nigeria, home to one of Africa’s largest Catholic populations, the story is being followed closely by the Church and the diaspora. Many Nigerian families in the United States have relied on Catholic networks for assistance in the past. The funding cut reinforces the administration’s hard-line approach to migration, a policy that continues to shape debates among Nigerian communities abroad.