The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops has asserted that it spends more money on providing services to migrants and refugees than it receives in federal grants for that purpose. A Washington Examiner review of the USCCB’s annual financial audit forms reveals that claim to be accurate.
Claims that the Catholic Church was benefitting from federal immigration grants intensified on social media Sunday after Vice President JD Vance stated on CBS News’s Face the Nation that the USCCB may be opposing some of the Trump administration’s recent immigration enforcement orders because the church is “worried about their bottom line.”
Shortly after Vance’s interview, influential names like conservative commentator Charlie Kirk amplified similar sentiments.
“JD Vance just CALLED OUT the hypocrites who spent the last four years cashing over $100 million in government checks while remaining SILENT as countless young girls were sex trafficked, raped and murdered thanks to the Democrat’ open border,” Kirk wrote on X. Kirk’s post was viewed over 2.6 million times, and other large right-of-center voices echoed similar ideas.
The USCCB released a statement rebuking such claims.
“Every person resettled through USRAP is vetted and approved for the program by the federal government while outside of the United States,” the statement reads. “In our agreements with the government, the USCCB receives funds to do this work; however, these funds are not sufficient to cover the entire cost of these programs. Nonetheless, this remains a work of mercy and ministry of the Church.”
An internal audit of the USCCB performed by professional services firm KPMG substantiates this statement.
In 2023, for instance, the USCCB and its affiliates received $129,626,673 in funds from government contracts. The contracts, per the audit, came from a variety of federal programs aimed at helping refugees and unaccompanied migrant children. Funds awarded for these programs must be spent on activities related to their goals, according to federal records.
While the USCCB received just over $129 million in federal migration service grants, it spent more than $130.5 million on such programs, leaving the church in the red. The USCCB’s 2022 audit tells a similar story, with it receiving $122,574,428 in federal funds to serve migrants and spending $124,881,840 on such services.
The USCCB did end 2023 with a $35.3 million increase in net assets. A significant portion of these funds, however, come with “donor restrictions” meaning that they are earmarked for a specific purpose. When looking at only unrestricted funds, the USCCB increased its assets by just over $1.1 million between 2022 and 2023.
Though it is true that taking on these refugee and migrant resettlement programs leaves the Catholic Church financially worse off than it would be otherwise, there still could be internal incentives for it to keep the grant money flowing as a considerable number of USCCB employees work in areas related to its migrant programs. The USCCB has five separate offices under its “Department of Migration and Refugee Services.” Without the influx of government funds to bankroll such programs, jobs in these offices could be cut. Of the roughly $130 million the USCCB spent on migrant and refugee services in 2023, about $9.7 million went to salaries.
In addition to taking government grants for such programs, the USCCB also accepts private contributions.
The Biden administration massively increased funding for migrant and refugee resettlement services after taking power in 2021. A May 2024 Free Press investigation found that Global Refuge, Southwest Key Programs, and Endeavors, three of the most prominent migrant-focused NGOs in the world, saw their revenue grow from $597 million in 2019 to $2 billion in 2022, largely due to increased federal spending.
Each of the heads of each nonprofit organization identified by the Free Press made over $500,000 per year, with Southwest Key Programs’s top executive raking in over $1 million. The USCCB, by contrast, is led by clergy, who typically accept modest salaries.
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The relationship between the Trump administration and the Catholic Church hasn’t been entirely negative. Archbishop of New York Timothy Dolan led the opening prayer at President Donald Trump’s inauguration on Jan. 20, and the USCCB put out a statement on Sunday praising the administration’s anti-abortion stance.
The USCCB and the vice president’s office did not respond to requests for comment.
Think organized religons want freedom from state and church but all too many stupid preacher’s find themselves corrupted by Biden cash flow, they should not have been involved with, for example the so called caravan charity’s receiving millions illegally from the Biden administrations to assist illegals coming from Souht America, Central America and else were without the tax payers permission receiving money to break Laws of the United States Government. The Catholic church never learned it’s lesson after world war 11 helping murders to escape to South America. Getting people to the United States illegally is a crime no matter what these do gooder’s think including the Bidens.
The surge of migrants to the USA, has caused ALL organizations and the American public to suffer. USCCB other religious entity’s as well as Federal Social programs have been stretched to the limit. Americas citizens who are more justified to be serviced by these organizations have been shortchanged by the illegal migrants. Rather than continually supporting this “giveaway free” program, all efforts should have been halted when valid immigration became an invasion. Our Marxist/Democrats in DC caused this and now DJ Trump will resolve it. The Billions of $ spent on this debacle caused nothing but chaos, despair, anger, wasted $, as well as citizens injuries and deaths. Never Again!!!