U.S. bishops say refugee program is ‘work of mercy’ after criticism from vice president

CNA Staff, Jan 27, 2025 / 10:35 am (CNA).

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) on Sunday argued that its long-standing refugee program is a “work of mercy” after Vice President JD Vance criticized the bishops’ positions on immigration issues.

Vance had made the remarks during an interview on Sunday with Margaret Brennan on CBS News’ “Face the Nation.”

Brennan had asked Vance, who is Catholic, about the USCCB’s criticism last week of the Trump administration’s various directives on immigration, specifically the government’s rescinding of the policy that restricted immigration arrests at “sensitive locations” such as churches.

Vance responded that “as a practicing Catholic” he was “heartbroken” by the bishops’ criticisms.

“And I think that the [USCCB] needs to actually look in the mirror a little bit and recognize that when they receive over $100 million to help resettle illegal immigrants, are they worried about humanitarian concerns?” Vance continued. “Or are they actually worried about their bottom line? We’re going to enforce immigration law. We’re going to protect the American people.”

Asked if he believed the U.S. bishops are “actively hiding criminals from law enforcement,” Vance argued that the USCCB has “not been a good partner in commonsense immigration enforcement that the American people voted for, and I hope, again, as a devout Catholic, that they’ll do better.”

Brennan also asked Vance about the Trump administration’s rollback of U.S. refugee admissions. Vance told Brennan that not all the refugees have been “properly vetted.”

“In fact, we know that there are cases of people who allegedly were properly vetted and then were literally planning terrorist attacks in our country,” Vance argued. “So clearly, not all of these foreign nationals have been properly vetted.”

Bishops: Refugee program is ‘ministry of the Church’

The USCCB on Sunday argued that its own work with refugees is part of a “long history” of Catholic advocacy for vulnerable migrants.

“In 1980, the bishops of the United States began partnering with the federal government to carry out this service when Congress created the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP),” the bishops said in the statement, which did not mention Vance.

“Every person resettled through USRAP is vetted and approved for the program by the federal government while outside of the United States,” they said.

“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,” the bishops said.

Though the U.S. bishops last week praised some of Trump’s directives such as his order asserting the “biological reality of sex,” USCCB President Archbishop Timothy Broglio said in a statement last week that he took issue with other orders from the White House, such as the immigration directives and the White House’s withdrawing from the Paris Agreement climate accord.

Those orders “are deeply troubling and will have negative consequences, many of which will harm the most vulnerable among us,” Broglio argued.

Source: https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/261823/us-bishops-say-refugee-program-is-work-of-mercy-after-criticism-from-vice-president