Archbishop Thomas Wenski of Miami called on the U.S. government on April 15 to reconsider its decision to cancel an $11 million federal contract with Catholic Charities, a move that will end services for unaccompanied minors and affect the archdiocese’s humanitarian mission.
The funding cut is significant because it ends a partnership of more than 65 years between Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Miami and the federal government, which began during Operation Pedro Pan when approximately 14,000 Cuban children were resettled in the United States. The Unaccompanied Minors Program has provided shelter and services to thousands since 1960.
“We ask the U.S. government to reconsider the cancellation of an $11 million federal contract with Catholic Charities, given the immediate and long-term impact on services for unaccompanied minors and the broader humanitarian mission of the archdiocese,” Wenski said at a press conference. He also questioned why such a longstanding program would be ended abruptly: “It is baffling that the U.S. government would shut down a program that would be hard-pressed to replicate at the level of competence and excellence that Catholic Charities has achieved, if and when future waves of unaccompanied minors reach our shores.”
Federal spending data indicates that Catholic Charities received $11 million from Health and Human Services in fiscal year 2025 before its award ended March 31, forcing services to shut down within three months. The Msgr. Bryan O. Walsh Children’s Village—formerly Boys Town—can house up to 81 children but recently was housing only five as transfers occurred ahead of closure.
Wenski said he does not believe recent tensions between President Donald Trump and Pope Leo XIV are related to this decision.
Florida Representatives María Elvira Salazar and Carlos Giménez also urged officials in an April letter not to eliminate this capacity: “South Florida has always been the front line of humanitarian migration in our hemisphere… Losing this capacity now will make future response efforts more costly, slower, and less effective.”
Former beneficiaries shared personal impacts as well; Javier Llorens, who arrived via Operation Pedro Pan in 1962, said: “It wasn’t just shelter — it was care, education, and formation… What matters is the care of children.” Graciela Anrrich recalled being placed with a foster family after arriving from Cuba: “The care we received was extraordinary.” Both expressed concern current children could lose vital support.
Peter Routsis-Arroyo, executive director for Catholic Charities Miami, explained there was no warning about losing funding: “We were negotiating a new budget right up to the time of cancellation… We were even approved for staff hiring” before notification arrived by email March 24 from ORR officials stating their application had not been selected despite high scores.
Routsis-Arroyo said without restored funding or legal action—the only remaining options—the organization must close its facility soon: “If funding is not restored, we will have to transition to other residential programs… Once we do, ORR will lose our capacity to serve this population.”
