
Catholic Charities USA / X
A video distributed by Catholic Charities USA’s (CCUSA) Refugee and Immigration Services in Milwaukee features an immigration attorney providing instructions to migrants about how to sidestep U.S. immigration law.
That video has caught the eye of Republican Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, chairwoman of a new House subcommittee called Delivering on Government Efficiency (DOGE).
“We are not going to tolerate NGOs who take the American people’s hard-earned taxpayer dollars to facilitate the invasion of our country,” Greene said Monday in a video posted to X and embedded with the Catholic Charities video featuring immigration attorney Barbara Graham. “My brand-new DOGE subcommittee will be calling in Catholic Charities to find out why and to what extent they were helping illegals invade America.”
Greene added that DOGE subcommittee staff members have also viewed the Catholic Charities video featuring Graham. “That woman, and Catholic Charities, will be coming before my subcommittee,” the congresswoman asserted.
In the video, titled “Know Your Rights! If ICE Comes to Your Work Place/U.S. Immigration Law,” Graham says she is informing illegal migrants “about knowing your rights if Immigration and Customs Enforcement approaches you.”
“All people living in the United States, including people who are undocumented, have certain rights under the United States Constitution,” she advises, instructing on how to get around U.S. immigration officials’ investigations.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), she continues, “must have a valid search warrant or the consent of your employer to enter non-public areas.”
“If you’re undocumented and immigration officers come to your workplace, be aware of the following: first, do not panic and do not run away,” she says. “If you are frightened and feel like you need to leave, you can calmly walk toward the exit.”
“If you are stopped, you may ask if you are free to leave. If the officer says no, do not try to exit the building … you have the right to remain silent,” the attorney goes on. “You do not need to speak to the immigration authorities or answer any questions if you are asked where you were born or how you entered the United States. You may simply refuse to answer or remain silent if you choose.”
The video surfaced as non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that receive taxpayer funding from the federal government to provide services to migrants are drawing closer scrutiny to determine possible facilitation and enabling of illegal migration.
President Donald Trump’s orders to begin deportations as soon as his term began drew a defensive statement from the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) regarding its “Work with the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program.”
“Every person resettled through USRAP is vetted and approved for the program by the federal government while outside of the United States,” the bishops said.
USCCB President Archbishop Timothy Broglio said in a separate statement that Trump’s executive orders regarding “the treatment of immigrants and refugees” are among several that are “deeply troubling and will have negative consequences.”
Pope Francis also called Trump’s deportations of illegal immigrants “a disgrace.”
Vice President JD Vance, a practicing Catholic, nevertheless affirmed Trump’s orders during an interview Sunday with CBS’ Face the Nation, arguing “the US 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?”
“We’re going to enforce immigration law,” Vance added. “We’re going to protect the American people.”
CCUSA defends its immigration initiatives on its website, where it argues that “Catholic social teaching holds that humans have a right to move to protect their lives and families” and casts blame on U.S. politicians for continuing a “broken immigration system.”
A joint statement released Thursday by CCUSA, the USCCB, and the Catholic Health Association of the United States said “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 these ministries—together with the Church’s responsibility to proclaim the Gospel and celebrate the sacraments—we uphold the belief that all people are conceived with inherent dignity, reflecting the image of God,” the statement continued. “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.”
“We recognize the need for just immigration enforcement and affirm the government’s obligation to carry it out in a targeted, proportional, and humane way,” the Catholic officials added. “However, non-emergency immigration enforcement in schools, places of worship, social service agencies, healthcare facilities, or other sensitive settings where people receive essential services would be contrary to the common good.”
In a statement to the New York Post, Kevin Brennan, vice president for media relations and executive communications at Catholic Charities USA, defended the services his organization provides, claiming they are for the “people most in need in their local communities, from hungry children and families trying to make ends meet to expectant mothers, veterans, disaster survivors, immigrants, seniors, and more.”
During his CBS interview, Vance disagreed that the immigrants and refugees being served by such programs are all properly vetted.
“I believe the US Conference of Catholic Bishops, if they’re worried about the humanitarian costs of immigration enforcement, let them talk about the children who have been sex trafficked because of the wide open border of Joe Biden,” Vance said. “Let them talk about people like Laken Riley … who are brutally murdered. I support us doing law enforcement against violent criminals, whether they’re illegal immigrants or anybody else, in a way that keeps us safe.”
“I don’t want my children to share a neighborhood with people who are not properly vetted, and because I don’t want it for my kids, I’m not going to force any other American citizens’ kids to do that either,” the vice president added.
