FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Thursday, February 20, 2025
PRESS CONTACT:
nicole@focalpointstrategygroup.com
Washington, D.C. — This week, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops filed a lawsuit against President Trump’s funding freeze of refugee resettlement funds. During his first week in office, Trump issued an executive order halting the refugee resettlement program, illegally halting funds appropriated by Congress and leaving thousands of refugees fleeing persecution and war without critical support. As a result, all funds intended for the resettlement program have been frozen, directly affecting numerous religious organizations across the country. Many organizations who rely on grant funds for critical programs, such as environmental projects and assistance to children with disabilities, have also been left without access to grant funding or reimbursement thanks to President Trump’s unconstitutional actions.
In response, Congressional Integrity Project senior advisor Kyle Herrig has issued the following statement:
“President Trump’s blatant attempts to undermine Congress and centralize his own power is grossly unconstitutional and extremely harmful to communities across our nation. Religious communities who attempt to serve and contribute to the wellbeing of our society are being left out in the cold because of Donald Trump. In just his first month in office, President Trump has shown the American people that his own ego and need for power take precedence over their livelihoods and security.”
Read the Latest:
Deseret News: The Battle Between Catholic Bishops And The Trump Administration Just Entered A New Phase.
- “A growing battle between the Trump administration and U.S. Catholic leaders escalated on Tuesday when Catholic bishops filed a lawsuit over refugee resettlement funds. The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops argued in the suit that the administration’s sudden funding freeze in late January violated several laws, including the Constitution’s guidance on congressional action. The lawsuit raises questions not just about the future of refugee resettlement in the U.S., but also about the past. Catholic leaders claimed the Trump administration is refusing to pay for services rendered before the funding freeze was in place.“
FOX News: US Conference Of Catholic Bishops Sues Trump Over Immigration, Refugee Funding Freeze.
- “The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) sued President Donald Trump’s administration for halting funding to a refugee resettlement program on Wednesday. The USCCB filing joins a litany of lawsuits seeking to block Trump from ending funding for various government programs and agencies. The suit relates to the Refugee Act of 1980, under which the USCCB worked in tandem with the U.S. government to resettle over 930,000 refugees, the lawsuit claims.”
Associated Press: US Catholic Bishops Sue Trump Administration For Halt In Funding For Refugee Settlement.
- “‘The conference suddenly finds itself unable to sustain its work to care for the thousands of refugees who were welcomed into our country and assigned to the care of the USCCB by the government after being granted legal status,’ [Archbishop Timothy Broglio, president of the USCCB] said. The conference is trying to keep the program going, but it’s ‘financially unsustainable,’ he said, adding that it’s trying to hold the U.S. government to its ‘moral and legal commitments.’ The conference is one of 10 national agencies, most of them faith-based, that serve refugees and that have been sent scrambling since receiving a Jan. 24 State Department letter informing them of an immediate suspension of funding pending a review of foreign-aid programs.”
National Catholic Reporter: Trump’s Foreign Aid Pause Hits Jesuit Refugee Service Hard.
- “Vital humanitarian activities that Jesuit Refugee Service leads in nine countries remain in jeopardy, the organization says, even after a judge’s order to temporarily lift the Trump administration’s freeze on foreign aid. The United States office of JRS said it needs $1.25 million to continue its most critical programs — including providing medicine, food, shelter and services for children with disabilities — during the three-month pause on all U.S. foreign assistance imposed by President Donald Trump.”
Religious News Service: Faith Groups’ Environmental Projects Halted By Trump’s Climate Funding Freeze.
- “More than 300 faith communities have lost access to grant funds that were intended to plant trees in disadvantaged urban communities, environmental faith leaders who managed the grants told RNS.”
- “Faith organizations are among those across the United States suffering funding losses amid the Trump administration’s quest to dismantle former President Joe Biden’s major climate law, the Inflation Reduction Act. On the first day of Trump’s second, nonconsecutive term in the White House, he signed an executive order pausing the disbursal of funds that were appropriated through the 2022 law. And, despite a judge’s order on Feb. 10 — which called the freeze ‘likely unconstitutional’ and directed the IRA funds to resume — grant recipients said funding remains paused. The IRA majorly expanded the U.S. Forest Service’s urban forestry program with a $1.5 billion investment to help city residents adapt to climate change. More than 300 faith organizations have lost access to grant funds intended to plant trees in disadvantaged urban communities, leaders who managed grants for numerous organizations told RNS. The vast majority of those grantees are congregations, as well as a few religious educational institutions and religious service organizations.”
WVPE: Local Religious Group Nervously Watching Trump Refugee Freeze.
- “On Monday a group of national organizations that help refugees resettle in the United States sued the Trump administration in Seattle, trying to block its freeze on funding that Congress already has approved. A Michiana nonprofit is watching nervously. […] URC Executive Director John Pinter says that flow of refugees has now come to a dead stop. And the local nonprofit doesn’t know if it will be reimbursed for help it’s already giving refugees with things like rent, food and finding jobs.”
Associated Press: Christian Aid Groups Weigh Life-Threatening Choices About Who To Help After USAID Funding Pause.
- “Faith-based organizations that partner with the U.S. government to deliver international aid are being hard-hit by the USAID shutdown, and are now facing their own layoffs, furloughs and severe funding shortages. Remaining staff are being forced to make difficult choices about which lifesaving programs can continue without government funding.”
- “Two of the 12 largest non-governmental recipients of USAID funds are faith-based: Catholic Relief Services and World Vision. These Christian nonprofits serve millions of people globally and provide food, water and health care in conflict zones. Catholic Relief Services — founded by U.S. Catholic bishops in 1943 — told staff to expect drastic reductions in their workforce this year, as much as 50 percent, due to cuts in U.S. foreign assistance. CRS receives more USAID support than any other non-governmental organization. The U.S. government funded nearly half of the 2023 CRS budget of $1.2 billion. The Vatican’s global charity arm, Caritas, on Monday warned that millions of people will die as a result of the ‘ruthless’ U.S. decision to ‘recklessly’ stop USAID funding, and hundreds of millions more will be condemned to “dehumanizing poverty.”
FOX 4 KDFW: Christian University With North Texas Ties Faces Expansion Delays Amid USAID Funding Cuts.
- “A Christian university with ties to North Texas says it will have to roll back a planned expansion due to cuts to foreign aid. The Trump administration has been slashing USAID funding in an effort to cut government spending and further President Donald Trump’s ‘America First’ agenda. The university’s plans to expand its facilities in Uganda are now on hold as USAID has been the target of recent cuts.”
Sojourners: ‘Chaos’ And ‘Confusion’ For Faith-Based Nonprofits After Funding Freezes.
- “Though judges have ordered a temporary pause on the administration’s efforts to freeze federal funding and the OMB memo was rescinded by a two-sentence notice on Jan. 29, uncertainty continues for faith-inspired and faith-based nonprofits like Found House. Compounding the fear across the faith-based services sector, the back-and-forth with federal funding comes as the Trump administration also put a 90-day freeze on almost all foreign aid and Elon Musk’s ‘Department of Government Efficiency’ is shutting down payments to federal contractors.”