The Trump administration has suspended federal funding to Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande pending the outcome of an investigation into alleged “incomplete and inaccurate” record keeping by the faith-based agency.
The ongoing review also could result in a period of debarment disqualifying the organization from receiving federal funds for six years, the Department of Homeland Security warned in a Nov. 20 letter to Sister Norma Pimentel, a nun and executive director of the Catholic nonprofit.
The organization responded that the Federal Emergency Management Agency funds in question were used as intended to aid immigrants delivered by U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Each arrived with CBP authorization to undergo immigration proceedings in designated locations in the U.S.
Norma Pimentel
“Those on the front lines of our humanitarian outreach know the work we do truly helps to restore human dignity,” Pimentel said. “I take very seriously every single dollar entrusted to us.”
Taking fire from conservative Christians and right-wing politicians is nothing new for Pimentel and her agency, which operates numerous assistance programs in the region, including a migrant respite shelter in McAllen, Texas.
She was a target of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s 2024 investigation into faith-based migrant shelters in the state, which he accused of being human trafficking and immigrant smuggling operations. The inquiry was part of Operation Lone Star, the sweeping anti-immigration campaign of Gov. Greg Abbott, who is Catholic.
In 2022, Judicial Watch and the conservative group CatholicVote accused Catholic-affiliated agencies, including Pimentel’s organization, of helping the Biden administration lure immigrants across the border.
“American Catholics deserve to know the full extent of the U.S. government’s role in funding and coordinating with Catholic Church-affiliated agencies at the border, and what role these agencies played in the record surge of illegal immigrants over the past year,” Judicial Watch said.
Pimentel responded that it’s “outrageous” to suggest the work of her agency drives up illegal immigration, according to the National Catholic Reporter. “I can assure you (migrants) are not uprooting themselves to come to our Respite Center so that they can take a bath and have a meal or sleep on a mat. They are leaving dire circumstances back in their home countries, risking everything to come here with the hope that they can find a safe place to raise their families.”
Pimentel responded that it’s “outrageous” to suggest the work of her agency drives up illegal immigration.
Anti-Catholic rhetoric has ramped up significantly since Trump returned to office in 2025. Most recently, evangelical groups and the administration chastised U.S. bishops for upholding the dignity of immigrants and lamenting mass detentions and deportations.
“So according to (the bishops) the message we should send to the whole world is: ‘If you cross the border illegally, which is a crime, don’t worry about it,” U.S. border czar Tom Homan said. “ICE has sent a message to the whole world: ‘Don’t give your life savings to come to (the) country, because you’re not gonna be released. You’re not going to cross (the) border illegally. You’re going to be prosecuted.’”
The funds DHS claims Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande misused were awarded by DHS in 2023 through FEMA’s Emergency Food and Shelter Program.
According to FEMA, the program is designed to supplement local nonprofit and government homelessness and hunger services and to assist individuals and families “encountered by the Department of Homeland Security.”
A 2024 independent audit concluded the Catholic agency “complied, in all material respects, with the compliance requirements” of the $5.85 million in federal grants it received in 2023 — including $5.59 million in DHS-related funding.
Despite the audit and the stated purpose of the grant, DHS said the review was initiated to ensure the funds “were not being used to encourage illegal immigration, transport illegal aliens, and/or harbor illegal aliens.”
The department’s letter also plainly says the investigation is politically motivated: “The prior administration abdicated its responsibility to uphold these ordinances of reason that Congress promulgated to promote the common good. But the moral imperative to follow the law — rather than incentivizing dangerous, sometimes fatal, illegal migration — remains.”
The letter also accused Pimentel’s organization of shoddy accounting practices. “You admitted to submitting incomplete and inaccurate data” and “you said that you ‘are aware of the data accuracy issue’ and that you ‘are unable to provide the correct data.’”
A review of invoices revealed the Catholic organization used the grant to help “hundreds of illegal aliens beyond their period of eligibility for services under the grant program you were administering.”
The agency said it already presumes the Catholic group guilty on all fronts. “Regardless of whether these problems stem from gross mismanagement or an affirmative intent to facilitate lawlessness, this pattern must end.”
The charity said it will continue its compliance with federal grant requirements and “work expeditiously with DHS to resolve the matter.”
And the organization emphasized its commitment “to serve each person who comes seeking our help with respect and compassion. Our mission remains the same. ‘For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me.’”
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