The Trump administration pulled millions of dollars in federal funding from a Catholic charity that provides care for migrant children as tensions between President Donald Trump and Pope Leo XIV have continued to escalate following days of public clashes over the war in Iran.
The Department of Health and Human Services canceled an approximately $11 million contract with Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Miami, a decadeslong partner in housing and caring for unaccompanied migrant minors.
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Cutting funding for the program threatens to shutter a South Florida charity that has served vulnerable children for more than 60 years, with church leaders warning services could end within months without federal support.
HHS chose not to renew the grant as the number of refugee care cases has dropped to record lows amid the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement push, an HHS spokesperson told the Washington Examiner. The final decision to not renew the grant was made on Feb. 16, the agency official said.
The White House dismissed the report as “Fake news.” The administration decided not to renew 49 charities’ grants because of the decrease in unaccompanied minors, deputy press secretary Kush Desai said. Only two were Catholic charities.
The move is part of a broader plan to close and consolidate “unused facilities as the Trump Administration continues efforts to stop illegal entry and the smuggling and trafficking of unaccompanied alien children,” an HHS official told the Miami Herald.
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The agency provided figures showing that the population of unaccompanied migrant children has significantly decreased under Trump’s strict immigration policies. The Miami Catholic charities location has roughly 1,900 migrant children in its care, a significant drop from the peak of 22,000 under former President Joe Biden.
Miami Archbishop Thomas Wenski, in a statement to the Miami Herald, agreed that there has been a decline in the number of migrant children attending the program but added that “it is baffling that the U.S. government would shut down a program that it would be hard-pressed to replicate at the level of competence” shown by the church.
Funding cuts for the charity come as Trump has repeatedly attacked the pope in recent days, calling him “weak on crime” and criticizing his stance on foreign policy, particularly his opposition to the war.
On Tuesday, Trump asked that the pontiff be reminded of the thousands of innocent protesters killed by the Iranian regime after nationwide protests there in January.
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Following Trump’s comments, Leo delivered a speech in Cameroon and warned that the world is being ravaged by “tyrants.” He has emphasized peace and warned against justifying violence through religion, signaling a clear disagreement with U.S. policy.
A few days prior, War Secretary Pete Hegseth, who has often referenced religion in his public speeches, asked Americans to pray for the success of the U.S operation in Iran “in the name of Jesus Christ.”
