The Trump administration has canceled an 11 million dollar federal contract with Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Miami, ending more than 60 years of government-funded shelter and care for unaccompanied migrant children in South Florida and leaving the future of dozens of children in limbo.
The contract, administered through the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR), a division of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), funded foster care, family reunification services, and residential care for children who arrive in the United States without parents or legal guardians. Among the facilities set to close is the Monsignor Bryan O. Walsh Children’s Village, an 81-bed shelter in Miami-Dade named after an early advocate for refugee children.
The federal government informed Catholic Charities of the cancellation in late March. HHS said the decision reflects a sharp drop in unaccompanied children in federal care, which stands at approximately 1,900 under the Trump administration compared with a peak of around 22,000 during the Biden years. HHS press secretary Emily G. Hillard said the agency was closing and consolidating unused facilities as part of broader efforts to stop illegal entry and the trafficking of unaccompanied children.
The Archdiocese of Miami pushed back strongly. In a statement published by the Miami Herald, Archbishop Thomas Wenski said the programme had served as a national model for decades. “The Archdiocese of Miami’s services for unaccompanied minors have been stripped of funding and will be forced to shut down within three months,” Wenski wrote, describing the government’s decision as baffling for a programme he said would be impossible to replicate at the same level of competence.
A conflict beyond immigration
The contract cancellation arrives against a backdrop of escalating tensions between the Trump administration and the Catholic Church. Pope Leo XIV, the first American-born pontiff, has made opposition to the United States war with Iran and care for migrants central to his papacy. Trump publicly attacked the pope in a social media post, calling him weak on crime and terrible for foreign policy. The president also drew sharp criticism after sharing an image depicting himself as Jesus Christ online.
The Miami programme traces its origins to Operation Pedro Pan in the 1960s, which brought thousands of unaccompanied Cuban children to South Florida. It has operated continuously since.
The immediate welfare of children still in the charity’s care remains unresolved. Robert Latham, associate director of the Children and Youth Law Clinic at the University of Miami Law School, warned that forced relocations could carry serious and lasting psychological consequences. “For little kids, moving repeatedly creates bonding issues and destroys the sense of both self and community,” Latham told the Miami Herald.
The Archdiocese held a press conference on Thursday to discuss whether any alternatives exist to continue the programme before the funding expires.
