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Coakley repeated the well-worn line that America is “a nation of immigrants” and should remain “generous in welcoming immigrants.”
He briefly conceded that countries have “a right and a duty to respect sovereign borders,” but quickly returned to arguing that migrants should still be allowed to enter the country when they feel the need.
This messaging is nothing new.
In November, the USCCB voted 216–5 to issue a “special message” condemning the Trump administration for fostering what they described as a “climate of fear and anxiety.”
They objected to what they called “indiscriminate mass deportation” and prayed for “an end to dehumanizing rhetoric.”
Pope Leo XIV reportedly directed the bishops to speak out against Trump’s border enforcement, and they followed orders without hesitation.
But there is one question church leaders never seem willing to answer.
Why are they so desperate to keep illegal immigrants flowing into the United States?
The Federal Funding Nobody Wants to Talk About
The answer becomes clear once the financial records are examined.
During the Biden administration, Catholic organizations received approximately $2.3 billion in federal funding tied to migrant and refugee services.
That is not millions. That is billions.
Federal grants to the USCCB for refugee assistance skyrocketed from $14.6 million in 2019 during Trump’s first term to $122.6 million by 2022.
Catholic Charities chapters nationwide pulled in more than $2 billion in federal funds over Biden’s four years, with most of the money coming from the Department of Health and Human Services.
One of the most stunning examples comes from Catholic Charities Fort Worth.
The organization received $11.7 million in government grants in 2021. By 2023, that number exploded to $401.7 million.
That is a 34-fold increase in just two years.
More than 95 percent of the money the USCCB spent on refugee and migrant programs came directly from federal funding.
The so-called humanitarian crisis at the border was not just a policy failure. For these organizations, it was a lucrative business.
Trump’s renewed enforcement efforts shut that pipeline down.
Border Czar Pushes Back Hard
Border Czar Tom Homan did not mince words when asked about the bishops’ criticism.
“The Catholic Church is wrong,” Homan said outside the White House.
“I’m a lifelong Catholic, but I’m saying it not only as a border czar, but I’m also saying this as a Catholic — they need to spend time fixing the Catholic Church.”
Homan also pointed out the glaring hypocrisy coming from the Vatican.
“You can’t enter their facilities without getting arrested,” he said. “The penalties for entering their facility are much worse than ours.”
The Vatican is protected by walls, armed guards, and strict enforcement. Anyone who trespasses faces immediate consequences.
Yet when the United States enforces its own borders, church leaders cry foul and accuse the government of cruelty.
Homan invited Catholic leaders to spend time with ICE agents and see firsthand “why illegal immigration is not a victimless crime.”
Children Lost Under Biden, Found Under Trump
During Biden’s presidency, federal agencies lost track of roughly 300,000 unaccompanied migrant children.
The Trump administration has already located more than 62,000 of those children.
Some were found working in forced labor. Others were discovered trapped in sexual exploitation networks.
Where was the outrage from the USCCB then?
While children vanished into trafficking rings, church leaders were cashing federal checks and issuing press statements about “welcoming migrants.”
Now that Trump is locating missing children and holding criminals accountable, the bishops suddenly find their moral voice.
Voters See Through the Act
Americans voted for border security.
They voted for deportations.
They voted for law and order.
The Catholic bishops are free to preach from taxpayer-funded pulpits if they choose.
But voters are no longer fooled.
They understand exactly why the attacks on Trump began the moment the federal money dried up.
What they are witnessing is not moral outrage.
It is an institution angry that its $2.3 billion cash cow has been taken away.
And no amount of sermonizing is going to change that reality.
