The Catholic Vote Sues the Biden Administration over lack of transparency in managing Texas Border

Last September Catholic Vote submitted a “FOIA” (Freedom of Information Act) request for copies of all communications between federal government agencies and Catholic-affiliated charities and organizations on the Texas border. The Act requires the federal government to respond and disclose these communications in a timely manner.  It did not, so Catholic Vote Sued

The Freedom of Information Act 2000 provides public access to information held by public authorities. Public authorities are obliged to publish certain information about their activities in a timely manner; and. members of the public are entitled to request information from public authorities.

After six months, the  Biden administration has refused to respond. So Catholic Vote partnered with Judicial Watch and filed federal lawsuits against the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Health and Human Services. CatholicVote.org Political Action Committee is an affiliated non-partisan political action committee that assists selected candidates in their election campaigns. CatholicVote PAC is the group’s connected political action committee; its goal is to provide qualified candidates with direct financial support while working independently to mobilize voters to elect candidates who will be faithful stewards of Catholic social teaching and the common good. CatholicVote.org Education Fund is a 501(c)3 tax-deductible program which comprises two units: the CatholicVote.org Education Fund and the CatholicVote.org Legal Action Fund. Judicial Watch founded in 1994 is an American activist group that files Freedom of Information Act lawsuits to investigate claimed misconduct by government officials.

Catholic Vote Brian Burch says that “the Biden administration’s lack of transparency and obstruction forced us to file these federal lawsuits. American Catholics deserve to know the full extent of our federal government’s role in funding and coordinating with Catholic Church-affiliated agencies at the border, and what role these agencies played in the record surge of illegal immigrants over the past year.”

Last summer record numbers of migrants were surging toward the United States. The Biden administration was blocking media access while vulnerable migrant families and children were packed in holding facilities, sleeping in squalor under highways in camps, or worse.     

Catholic Vote wants to know: What role are Catholic charities, dioceses, or Catholic-affiliated relief organizations playing in this effort? Are they helping house migrants in homes, hotels, or shelters? Are they paying for transportation, flights, buses, or other services – with government money? 

Is what they are doing legal? 

And is it the right thing to do?  

The first FOIA request to DHS includes all communications between the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol and any of the following: 

• The Diocese of Brownsville (San Juan, Texas)
• Bishop Daniel E. Flores in his capacity as Bishop of the Diocese of Brownsville, Texas
• Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley (“CCRGV”)
• Sister Norma Pimentel in her capacity as the Executive Director of CCRGV
• The Humanitarian Respite Center in McAllen, Texas. 

The second FOIA request to HHS includes all communications between the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol and the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops regarding the following: 

• Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley (“CCRGV”)
• Sister Norma Pimentel in her capacity as the Executive Director of CCRGV
• The Humanitarian Respite Center in McAllen, Texas 

Catholic Vote says their efforts are to expose and to help end the chaos at the southern border. 

“We know every person, regardless of their legal status, deserves to be treated with dignity,” the group said in a statement. “But that’s just it: Our border is in chaos.”

“Catholics deserve to know.,” they added. “Our southern border is a humanitarian disaster, and something needs to change.”