On April 7, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops announced its decision not to renew the cooperative agreements with the federal government related to children’s services and refugee support. Citing the government’s suspension of the cooperative agreements to resettle refugees, Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio, USCCB president, explained how the government’s decisions have forced the conference to reconsider the best way to serve the needs of those seeking safe harbor from violence and persecution.
Since its founding, the USCCB has been concerned with helping families who are fleeing war, violence and oppression find safe and secure homes, he said. What eventually became the USCCB was founded in 1917 as the National Catholic War Council to support the war effort and care for Catholics in the military. In 1920, it established a Bureau of Immigration to help displaced families find new opportunities in the United States. Many people can trace their parents, grandparents, or great grandparents to these families.
Over the years, partnerships with the federal government helped expand lifesaving programs, benefiting our sisters and brothers from many parts of the world, Archbishop Broglio said. All participants in these programs were welcomed by the U.S. government to come to the United States and underwent rigorous screening before their arrival. These are displaced souls who see in America a place of dreams and hope. Some assisted American efforts abroad at their own risk and more seek a place to worship and pray safely as they know God calls them. Our efforts were acts of pastoral care and charity, generously supported by the people of God when funds received from the government did not cover the full cost, he added.
“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,” he said. “This difficult decision follows the suspension by the government of our cooperative agreements to resettle refugees. The decision to reduce these programs drastically forces us to reconsider the best way to serve the needs of our brothers and sisters seeking safe harbor from violence and persecution.”
The archbishop said that as a national effort, the USCCB “simply cannot sustain the work on our own at current levels or in current form. As USCCB cooperative agreements for refugee resettlement and children’s programs end, we will work to identify alternative means of support for the people the federal government has already admitted to these programs. We ask your prayers for the many staff and refugees impacted.”
He added that while this “marks a painful end to a life-sustaining partnership with our government that has spanned decades across administrations of both political parties, it offers every Catholic an opportunity to search our hearts for new ways to assist.”
The USCCB will continue advocating for policy reforms that provide orderly, secure immigration processes, ensuring the safety of everyone in our communities. Archbishop Broglio said the USCCB “remains steadfast in its commitment to advocating on behalf of men, women and children suffering the scourge of human trafficking.
For half a century, we have been willing partners in implementing the government’s refugee resettlement program. The Gospel’s call to do what we can for the least among us remains our guide. We ask you to join us in praying for God’s grace in finding new ways to bring hope where it is most needed.”