The Department of Homeland Security’s move to suspend funding for Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley — and to seek an unusually long ban on future federal grants — is prompting concern among Catholic leaders and immigration advocates who see the action as part of a broader effort to curtail faith-based humanitarian work at the U.S.-Mexico border.
CCRGV, a South Texas nonprofit led by Sister Norma Pimentel, has been given 30 days to respond to DHS’s proposed debarment, which would shut the organization out of most federal funding streams for six years.
The suspension, which applies only to the South Texas organization, not to Catholic Charities USA or other diocesan agencies nationwide, would be a major blow to CCRGV. The charity, which operatesthe Humanitarian Respite Center in McAllen, Texas, has been a major recipient of DHS funds through the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Emergency Food and Shelter-Humanitarian program and its newer Shelter Services Program.
According to DHS, such allocations are meant to “provide funding to non-federal entities that serve noncitizen migrants recently released from DHS custody” so that they can temporarily provide shelter, food, transportation, medical care, personal hygiene supplies, and staff assistance.
Federal filings indicate CCRGV received over three-quarters of its revenue from federal and state grants in 2023 and 2024.
Although federal agencies routinely audit grant recipients, the scope and severity of the DHS’s proposed punishment stand out. Federal debarments typically last three years. But DHS is seeking twice that length, citing what it describes as “pervasive” problems in CCRGV’s internal controls, irregular intake procedures, and missing documentation.