Frequently Asked Questions

What is Catholic Charities? 
There are 168 independent diocesan Catholic Charities agencies operating more than 4,000 facilities/sites serving people living in poverty and an array of vulnerable people of all ages, backgrounds and faiths throughout the United States and its territories. Catholic Charities agencies are the social services ministry of the Catholic Church in the United States, and last year alone, the network served more than 16 million people in need.  

What services do Catholic Charities agencies provide?
Last year, 92 percent of the services provided by Catholic Charities agencies around the country covered basic needs — access to food, housing, health care and other necessities — for families and individuals struggling to get by. Catholic Charities agencies serve the elderly, expectant mothers, children in poverty, veterans, migrants, individuals suffering with mental health challenges and people facing almost any other imaginable category of suffering.  

How much of the work of Catholic Charities is devoted to serving migrants?  
Last year, 5 percent of the services provided by Catholic Charities agencies around the country were immigration and refugee services. Other services include food and nutrition, safe affordable housing, support for seniors, health care, financial stability and other critical services. 

Why do some Catholic Charities agencies serve migrants? 
Catholic Charities agencies serve migrants not because they are newcomers to the U.S., but because they are vulnerable and in need, like all those we serve. This work is a response to the Gospel mandate to feed the hungry, clothe the naked and welcome the stranger. For decades, federal, state and local governments have relied on Catholic Charities agencies to serve those most in need all around the country because of the exceptional, compassionate care Catholic Charities agencies provide.

How do Catholic Charities agencies serve migrants? 
The Catholic Charities network has served migrants in need for more than 100 years. Catholic Charities agencies offer migrants and any other community members in need — regardless of race, religion or political affiliation — a variety of assistance, including food pantries and other essential services. In recent years, federal, state and local governments have asked some Catholic Charities agencies, especially those at or near the U.S.-Mexico border, to assist migrants whom the federal government has processed and released with pending immigration court proceedings. These agencies have provided basic care — such as food, clothing and a place to sleep for a night or two. Some Catholic Charities agencies also offer legal assistance to migrants as they navigate our complicated immigration legal system.  

How does the Catholic Charities network operate? 
There are 168 independent diocesan Catholic Charities agencies across the United States. Each falls under the auspices of its local bishop/archbishop and serves the particular needs of its local community. Catholic Charities USA (CCUSA) is the national membership organization for Catholic Charities agencies, providing them valuable support and resources. CCUSA does not provide direct services to clients.  

Does the Catholic Charities network work with the government?
Federal, state and local governments have relied on Catholic Charities agencies all over the country for decades. Catholic Charities staff and volunteers do the work on the ground that the government can’t, caring for those who are homeless, hungry, disaster-stricken, out-of-work and suffering.  

Do Catholic Charities agencies receive government funding to work with migrants? 
Some Catholic Charities agencies — along with other nonprofit organizations as well as cities and towns themselves — have received funds allocated by Congress for providing humanitarian aid to migrants. These funds, which reimburse some of the agencies’ costs, have been provided to Catholic Charities agencies to ease the burden on U.S. communities. The introduction of these funds for this usage came in 2019 during the first Trump administration and with bipartisan support from Congress.   

Are the services Catholic Charities agencies provide to migrants lawful? 
Yes, and in fact, these services are provided in coordination with federal, state and municipal authorities. Federal authorities regularly brought migrants to local Catholic Charities agencies for assistance after processing them through a U.S.-Mexico port of entry. The Catholic Church upholds the right of all nations to control their borders and the flow of migrants within. Catholic Charities neither condones nor takes part in illegal activity and respects our country’s immigration laws. 

Is the Catholic Charities network’s work with migrants political in nature? 
No. The work of the Catholic Charities network is humanitarian, not political, and has continued for more than a century in coordination with presidential administrations of both parties. The Catholic Charities network looks forward to assisting President Trump and his administration in providing humanitarian care to vulnerable families across the country, just as it did during his prior administration. 

How does the Catholic Charities network help to combat human trafficking?  
Catholic Charities agencies that serve migrants work closely with government institutions and other faith-based organizations to combat human trafficking. Many Catholic Charities staff have specialized training and skills to screen for and detect signs of trafficking among migrants, who are particularly at risk, and will refer cases to appropriate local, state and federal government agencies for further action. Some Catholic Charities agencies also serve trafficking survivors who were born in the United States, providing care and support as they seek justice through the criminal legal system. In addition, these agencies also provide intensive, trauma-focused care by providing counseling and culturally and linguistically competent case management services to survivors of trafficking.  

Does the Catholic Charities network provide any services outside the United States? 
No. The 168 Catholic agencies serve people in need in all 50 states and five U.S. territories. 

Why is the Catholic Charities network’s service to migrants misunderstood? 
Over the past several years, as immigration has become the country’s most polarizing political issue, some groups and individuals have spread misinformation about the work of Catholic Charities. As a result, Catholic Charities staff and volunteers have endured harassment and threats, as documented by the New York Times and Religion News Service. The staff of Catholic Charities agencies are dedicated, compassionate professionals who have been put in danger by the spreading of this misinformation and disinformation. Please do not amplify it and contribute to this imperiling problem. 

What is the Catholic Church’s teaching on migration? 
The Catholic Church teaches that all human beings are made in the image and likeness of God and must be treated with dignity, respect and mercy. The Catholic Church upholds the fundamental right of a person to migrate to preserve lives and families, which may mean leaving one’s country of origin to flee violence or other dangers. The Catholic Church recognizes a country’s need to regulate its own borders in a humane, orderly fashion. The government also has a duty to promote the common good by protecting its citizens and preventing violence and other serious crimes.  

What is the Catholic Church’s position on the U.S. immigration system? 
Catholic Charities USA, along with the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and many other Catholic organizations, has for years called on the federal government to fix our country’s broken immigration system. Catholic Charities USA will continue to emphasize the urgent need for serious, bipartisan reforms that prioritize the security of the border and the human dignity of those on both sides of it. Without those reforms, our immigration system will remain broken, and the Catholic Charities network will remain committed to carrying out the Gospel mandate to provide critical humanitarian aid to those in need who arrive at our doorsteps.  

The Gospel Imperative 

Our work is guided and driven by Catholic social teaching and the tradition that views migrants and newcomers as human beings created in God’s image, our brothers and sisters for whom Jesus gave his life. The Church does not have an immigration policy so much as an “immigrant” policy rooted in the Gospels.

What does the Church say?

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ pastoral statement, Welcoming the Stranger Among Us: Unity in Diversity (2000), written by the conference’s Committee on Migration, was an important call to communion to members of the U.S. Church to receive newcomers from throughout the world with a spirit of welcome and solidarity.  

This statement is grounded firmly in Catholic social teaching, which has much to say about immigration and the movement of people throughout the world and across borders.  

In advocating on behalf of migrants, immigrants and refugees, it is important to understand that Catholic social teaching is derived from the Gospels and the words of Christ; Papal statements and encyclicals; and statements and pastoral letters of bishops around the world, including the bishops of the United States. 

Scripture and Catholic tradition teach that immigrants, refugees and all forcibly displaced persons are to be cared for with dignity and respect. Our agencies recognize the inherent dignity of every person, regardless of where they come from or how they arrive in our care.