(OSV News): Two Republican representatives in the US Congress House of Representative’s Committee on Homeland Security chairperson, Mark E. Green from Tennessee; and Subcommittee on Oversight, Investigations and Accountability chairperson; and Josh Brecheen from Oklahoma, announced a probe on more than 200 non-governmental organisations for allegedly aiding immigrants they call “inadmissible aliens” during the administration of former president, Joe Biden, on June 11.
The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops [USCCB] and Catholic Charities USA are among those named in the congressional probe.
“The chairmen are examining whether these NGOs used taxpayer dollars to facilitate illegal activity, as the previous administration incentivized millions of inadmissible aliens to cross our borders—many of whom were subsequently aided by NGOs after being released at the border under the Biden-Harris administration’s mass catch-and-release policies,” said a press release.
In letters sent to the NGOs, Brecheen and Green “request each NGO complete a survey that includes questions on the government grants, contracts, and disbursements they have received; any lawsuits against the US federal government they are petitioning; amicus briefs they have filed in any lawsuit brought against the US federal government; any legal service, translation service, transportation, housing, sheltering, or any other form of assistance provided to illegal immigrants or unaccompanied alien children since January 2021; and more.”
The USCCB and Catholic Charities USA did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Catholic Charities has long denied claims that it facilitates illegal immigration.
On its website, the USCCB states that the Catholic Church does not support illegal immigration but advocates for “changing a broken law so that undocumented persons can obtain legal status in our country and enter the United States legally to work and support their families.”
Before the Trump administration suspended a federal refugee resettlement programme and froze federal reimbursements, prompting the USCCB to significantly reduce its staff, the conference’s Migration and Refugee Services described itself as “the largest refugee resettlement agency in the world,” and said that in partnership with its affiliates, it resettled approximately 18 per cent of the refugees that arrived in the US each year legally through its refugee programs.
In April, the USCCB said it would not renew its cooperative agreements with the federal government related to children’s services and refugee support after its longstanding partnerships with the federal government in those areas became “untenable.”
Meanwhile, the bishops are seeking reimbursement for more than US$24 million in federal funding for services already provided.
