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By Rachel Dobkin
Weekend Reporter
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Vice President JD Vance suggested to CBS News' Margaret Brennan in an interview that aired Sunday morning that Catholic bishops concerned over President Donald Trump's immigration plans just care about money.
Newsweek reached out to the White House and the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) via email for comment on Sunday.
Why It Matters
Earlier this week, the Trump administration announced it would end a longstanding policy that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents would not make arrests in or near "sensitive" areas, such as churches, hospitals or schools.
Read More on Politics
Vance, a practicing Catholic, made his recent remarks in response to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' (USCCB) statement on the rescission of the ICE policy. The USCCB said, in part, on Thursday, "Turning places of care, healing, and solace into places of fear and uncertainty for those in need, while endangering the trust between pastors, providers, educators and the people they serve, will not make our communities safer."
Trump made immigration a central theme of his successful presidential campaign and Americans largely support his plans to execute mass deportations of people living in the United States illegally.
A New York Times/Ipsos poll, carried out from January 2 to 10, found 55 percent of voters strongly or somewhat supported such plans. Eighty-eight percent supported "Deporting immigrants who are here illegally and have criminal records." Large majorities of Democrats and Republicans agreed that the immigration system is broken.
During Tuesday's inaugural prayer service at the Washington National Cathedral, Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde called on Trump's faith to ask him "to have mercy upon the people in our country who are scared now," including immigrants.
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What To Know
Appearing on Face the Nation on Sunday, Vance told Brennan, "As a practicing Catholic, I was actually heartbroken by that statement and I think that the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops needs to actually look in the mirror a little bit and recognize that when they receive over $100 million to help resettle illegal immigrants, are they worried about humanitarian concerns? Or are they actually worried about their bottom line?"
The USCCB has the largest refugee resettlement agency in the world. Refugees are not illegal immigrants. Official entities give refugee status to people who have been forced to flee their home country because of war, violence or persecution. Refugees can become lawful permanent residents and eventually citizens in the U.S. During his first day in office, Trump suspended the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP), a federal program that gives refugees a legal pathway into the U.S.
"We're going to enforce immigration law. We're going to protect the American people," Vance told Brennan, adding if the USCCB is "worried about the humanitarian cost of immigration enforcement let them talk about the children who have been sex trafficked because of the wide-open border of [President] Joe Biden."
In a May 2024 article, The Brennan Center for Justice, a nonpartisan law and policy institute, said that "numerous studies show that immigration is not linked to higher levels of crime, but rather the opposite...When looking specifically at the relationship between undocumented immigrants and crime, researchers come to similar conclusions."
Brennan asked during her interview with Vance: "You think the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' are actively hiding criminals from law enforcement?"
The vice president responded: "I think the US Conference of Catholic Bishops has, frankly, not been a good partner in common sense immigration enforcement that the American people voted for, and I hope, again, as a devout Catholic, that they'll do better."
When reached for comment by Newsweek, the USCCB referred to its statement issued Sunday about its refugee resettlement agency, which is one of 10 resettlement agencies in the U.S.: "Faithful to the teaching of Jesus Christ, the Catholic Church has a long history of serving refugees. In 1980, the bishops of the United States began partnering with the federal government to carry out this service when Congress created the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP)."
The USCCB added that those resettled through USRAP are "vetted and approved for the program by the federal government while outside of the United States" and that in its agreement with the government it "receives funds to do this work; however, these funds are not sufficient to cover the entire cost of these programs."
The USCCB's statement concluded: "Nonetheless, this remains a work of mercy and ministry of the Church."
What People Are Saying
The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) said in its Thursday statement, "Catholic health care, Catholic Charities agencies, and the Church's other social service ministries work daily to feed, house, heal, educate, and meet people's needs in communities across our nation...Through our parishes, shelters, hospitals, schools, and other Church institutions, we recognize that this dignity is not dependent on a person's citizenship or immigration status."
Then-acting Secretary of Homeland Security Benjamine Huffman said in a statement on Tuesday: "This action empowers the brave men and women in CBP [Customs and Border Protection] and ICE to enforce our immigration laws and catch criminal aliens—including murders and rapists—who have illegally come into our country. Criminals will no longer be able to hide in America's schools and churches to avoid arrest. The Trump Administration will not tie the hands of our brave law enforcement and instead trusts them to use common sense."
Olivia Golden, interim executive director of the Center for Law and Social Policy, said in a statement on Tuesday: "This action could have devastating consequences for immigrant families and their children, including U.S. citizen children, deterring them from receiving medical attention, seeking out disaster relief, attending school, and carrying out everyday activities."
She added: "Should ICE presence near such locations become more common, the likelihood also increases that children could witness a parent's detention, arrest, or other encounters with ICE agents."
What Happens Next
Trump signed a flurry of executive orders on Monday including ones that targeted immigrants, such as the one to end birthright citizenship of children born to people living in the U.S. illegally. This order has already been temporarily blocked by a federal judge who called it "a blatantly unconstitutional order."
During this time of uncertainty, groups across the nation have been holding workshops to teach immigrants about their legal rights.
Update 1/26/25, 6:33 p.m. ET: This article has been updated with comment from the USCCB.
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