The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops issued layoff notices to about a third of the staff in its Migration and Refugee Services Office on Friday after it stopped receiving reimbursements from the Trump Administration. Source: OSV News.
The move comes as the Trump administration suspended a federal refugee resettlement program as part of its broader effort to enforce its hardline immigration policies.
First reported by The Pillar, USCCB general secretary Fr Michael Fuller wrote in a memo on Friday to members of the conference that executive orders recently signed by Mr Trump “are causing confusion both within various agencies and with those who interact with them”.
“This is true for the USCCB regarding cooperative agreements for both Refugee Resettlement Programs and our Children Services, which help care for unaccompanied children,” the memo said.
It added the cuts would impact Catholic Relief Services, the overseas relief and development arm of the Catholic Church in the US, “even more harshly”.
The layoffs impact 50 individuals, the memo said.
The USCCB website states that its Migration and Refugee Services “is the largest refugee resettlement agency in the world,” and that in partnership with its affiliates, it resettles approximately 18 per cent of the refugees that arrive in the US each year.
Fr Fuller wrote in the memo that the USCCB provides the staff to organise and administer its federal agreements to assist refugee populations that qualify for federal assistance “with local Catholic Charities and other agencies who care for the refugees directly”.
They expect these agreements to fluctuate with each administration, the memo said, and therefore so will the number of staff.
But while “we expected we might have a reduction in force with the new administration, actions this significant and this immediate were not anticipated,” it said.
Reimbursements from the federal government for its work stopped on January 15 for services completed in November, the memo said, meaning they are “awaiting reimbursement for services completed in December, an amount close to $US20 million.”
FULL STORY
USCCB lays off a third of migration staff after Trump’s suspension of refugee resettlement program (By Kate Scanlon, OSV News)
