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Refugee Resettlement and Churches

In January of this year, a Minnesota priest was forced to apologize for stating that Islam was “the greatest threat in the world” during a sermon on immigration.  “I believe it is essential to consider the religion and worldview of the immigrants or refugees,” the Rev. Nick VanDenBroeke told his parishioners, “More specifically, we should not be allowing large numbers of Muslims asylum or immigration into our country.” 

After the usual complaint was made by the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR), Rev. VanDenBroeke issued a public apology on the website for the Archdiocese of St Paul and Minneapolis.  In an accompanying statement, Archbishop Bernard Hebda could not be more effusive in his praise of Muslims.  “I am grateful for the many examples of friendship that have been offered by the Muslim community in our region and we are committed to strengthening the relationship between the two communities,” the Archbishop stated. 

Why would the Archdiocese come down so hard and so fast on one priest?  The answer lies in a little-discussed profit center of the Catholic Church in America – Refugee Resettlement.

For years, the Catholic Charities organizations of various states have been involved in placing immigrants in communities across the United States.  To be fair, Catholic Charities is not the only religion-based organization engaged in this work – Lutheran Social Services and Baptist Child and Family Services are also deeply involved in Refugee Resettlement.  In 2018, the US Conference of Catholic Bishops received $28 million to help resettle refugees.  These funds are spread across awards entitled “Refugee Cash and Medical Assistance,” “Residential Service for Unaccompanied Children,” and “Refugee Social Services.”  Lutheran Social Services also received $28 million, and Baptist Child and Family Services received $127 million (spread among several Baptist groups under the umbrella of Baptist Child and Family Services. 

In fact, if you go to the website for Catholic Charities of Central Florida, among the services provided to immigrants are “all forms of humanitarian relief, citizenship services, employment authorization application and immigration court representation.”  The website goes on to advise their potential “customers” that “you may qualify for a grant based program,”  meaning federal aid or local financial assistance.

There is no doubt that many of these “refugees” are Muslims.  For instance, in St Louis, Missouri, the “refugee population has increased steadily since the early 1990s, when the city was designated as a preferred relocation community. Approximately 70,000 Bosnians and 5,000 Somalis presently live in the St. Louis area…these two groups are primarily Muslim…” 

Overall, according to the Pew Research Center, “since fiscal 2002 (Oct. 1, 2001, to Sept. 30, 2019), the most refugees have come from Burma (about 177,700), Iraq (144,400) and Somalia (104,100)…In fiscal 2016, the number of Muslim refugees admitted reached 38,900, a historic high…That year, Muslims accounted for 46% of the year’s refugees, the highest share since fiscal 2006.”  The Center does note that under President Trump, “Christians accounted for 79% of refugees who came to the U.S. in fiscal 2019. The U.S. admitted about 23,800 Christians, compared with about 4,900 Muslims and smaller numbers of other religious groups.” 

Besides resettling more Christians, the Trump Administration has cut down on the overall number of refugees being admitted to the United States.  According to Crux, a Catholic publication, when “President Donald Trump took office (in)2017…his administration made it clear it wanted to reduce the number of refugees the country would take in.  The number of refugees authorized for admission to the U.S. in fiscal year 2018, which began Oct. 1, 2017, was cut to 45,000, but the State Department has admitted only 10,548 in the first six months.”  The effect of this reduction in refugees admitted?  “Nearly 20 U.S. Catholic refugee resettlement programs have closed in the past two years and dozens of others have scaled back their efforts…Catholic organizations charged with resettling refugees have laid off or transferred as many as 300 employees as a direct result of the reduced numbers.”  s/

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In a less populous state like North Dakota, the financial impact of refugee resettlement is heavy.  According to the Valley News, in December of 2015, “over the past 14 years, Lutheran Social Services has resettled 4,000 refugees from 35 countries in North Dakota.”  Each refugee receives a federal grant of $925 dollars for initial housing costs, however, if you multiplied that cost by 445 immigrants estimated to be resettled in 2016, “that would lead to a cost of $423,650 for fiscal year 2016 to resettle New Americans. (Note – I came up with $411,625 when I did the math.)  Also, with the brunt of the resettlement program here in Cass County, social services estimates that about 15% of its budget goes toward serving refugees.  Their 2014 budget was more than $14,132,517, which means just over $2.1 Million was spent serving the refugee population of Cass County.”  h

According to the Lutheran Social Services webpage, their organization spends up to $755 a month for a family of 5 providing additional services after the initial $925 outlay.   

The website for Catholic Charities of North Dakota does not reflect work with the resettlement of immigrants.  However, the website for the Conference of Catholic Bishops shows that in Fiscal Years 2019 and 2020, the Bishops had received over $3 million dollars in funding for International “Migration and Refugee Assistance,” which is described as “protects refugees and internally displaced persons, helps them to repatriate when conflict ends or natural disaster responses permit, and supports resettlement to safe countries like the U.S. This level would fund the admission process for 75,000 refugees to the U.S.”  (emphasis added).

If you keep in mind that the Trump Administration cut the number of refugees allowed resettlement in the United States to 45,000 in 2018, The Catholic Bishops are asking Congress for more than 3 million dollars to resettle more than twice that number in the US alone in 2020.

Thus, when Archbishop Hebda slapped down Rev. VanDenBroeke, his financial incentive to do so becomes very clear.

This article was provided exclusively to the New York Analysis of Policy and Government by the distinguished Judge John H. Wilson, (ret.)

Photo: Pixabay