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Thanks to funding cuts from the administration of self-proclaimed Christian/creator of jobs President Donald Trump, several dozen employees of a Miami religious charity will lose their jobs at the end of May as a facility for unaccompanied immigrant children shuts down, according to filings made in accordance with the Florida Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act.
Miami officials in April announced the Office of Refugee Resettlement would cancel its longtime benefactor role with Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Miami, which it paid to house immigrant children entering the U.S. without parents. The archdiocese says it now has to close the Msgr. Bryan Walsh Children’s Village, which cared for up to 81 children. The closure comes amid Trump’s ever-expanding crackdown on immigration, from ICE raids to travel bans.
The cut amounts to about $11 million, according Catholic Charities. Catholic Charities hasn’t responded to a request for comment. According to the Monday layoff filing first reported by USA Today (and attached below), the organization’s administration alerted staff this week and cited the sudden funding cut as the culprit. Listed among the full staff layoffs was every employee of the Msgr. Bryan Walsh Children’s Village, including 46 youth care workers, 11 case managers, six clinicians, five traveling youth care workers, and a host of other specialists and administrators.
According to a letter written to staff, “As you know, the Administration for Children and Families’ Office of Refugee Resettlement terminated its funding contract with the agency. Due to these unforeseen circumstances the funding for the program was terminated and the agency has made the difficult decision to close the Msgr. Bryan Walsh Children’s Village.
“Following confirmation received from the Office of Refugee Resettlement this week, as a result of this closure, your position will be eliminated with a separation date currently expected to be May 31, 2026. Regrettably, these layoffs are permanent.”
News of the cut also came the same week Trump was feuding with Pope Leo XIV and local Catholic leaders including Miami Archbishop Thomas Wenski came to the pope’s defense.
However, Wenski said during a press conference last week that the cancelled funds for were unrelated to the dustup. Instead, he alleged, the funding was cut because Republican officials came to believe Catholic Charities wasn’t just helping house and find homes for refugees, but also allowing those involved in drug smuggling to get into the country. He called the decision a matter of politics.
The Office of Refugee Resettlement has paid Catholic Charities in Miami for years to house immigrant children entering the U.S. without parents. The charity played a massive role in the U.S. State Department’s “Operation Pedro Pan,” a clandestine immigration initiative that brought more than 14,000 unaccompanied Cuban minors into the U.S. during the rule of Fidel Castro.
The Department of Health and Human Services has said the daily population of unaccompanied migrant children in the agency’s care has decreased significantly, dropping to 1,900 under the Trump administration compared to a peak of 22,000 in 2021 under the Biden administration, according to reporting by Miami Herald. The agency did not immediately respond to New Times‘ request for comment.
