Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar
U.S. Rep. María Elvira Salazar (R-FL) has requested that the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) reconsider its decision against funding Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Miami’s Residential Services for Unaccompanied Children program.
“South Florida has always been the first to respond when crisis hits our hemisphere,” Rep. Salazar said on Monday. “From Operation Pedro Pan to past surges of unaccompanied minors at our border, Catholic Charities’ Children’s Village has been a pillar of compassion and expertise. Preserving this capacity is essential so we are prepared to respond effectively if the next crisis arises.”
Along with U.S. Rep. Carlos Gimenez (R-FL), Rep. Salazar warned that defunding one of the nation’s most experienced and trusted programs, especially one located at the frontline of migration, is a “strategic mistake” that would weaken South Florida’s ability to respond to future regional crises.
“South Florida has always been the frontline of humanitarian migration in our hemisphere,” wrote the lawmakers in an April 3 letter sent to Administration for Children and Families Assistant Secretary Alex Adams and ORR Director Angie Salazar. “Catholic Charities’ Children’s Village/Boys Town was built from that legacy and remains one of the longest-operating and most experienced programs in the country.”
In their letter, the members point to escalating conditions across the region, with Cuba facing widespread blackouts, food shortages, economic collapse, and growing civil unrest. Likewise, Haiti continues to deteriorate, with escalating gang violence and a total breakdown of authority and a worsening humanitarian situation.
Together, these conditions increase the likelihood of near-term influx into South Florida, wrote Rep. Salazar and her colleague.
“These conditions historically trigger sudden migration surges, often including unaccompanied minors,” they wrote. “Reducing capacity in the very region most likely to receive these arrivals is not cost-effective, it is a strategic mistake.”
Catholic Charities provides what cannot be quickly replaced, wrote Rep. Salazar and her colleague, such as trained staff, proven infrastructure, and decades of expertise.
Their program also offers on-site K-12 education, counseling, access to legal services, life skills training, medical care, and religious services, all of which help each minor navigate an incredibly difficult and vulnerable moment in their lives, according to their letter.
“Losing this capacity now will only make future response efforts more costly, slower, and less effective,” they concluded. “We urge ORR to reconsider and ensure we are prepared, not scrambling, when the next crisis arrives.”