By Ray Cardello for August 27, 2023, Season 21 / Post 33

Non-Government Organizations (NGOs), like the Catholic Church, are reaping millions of dollars to assist in the disbursement of illegals throughout the country. These payments are making these NGOs complicit in the most incredible human trafficking operation in United States history. At the current pace, the Biden Administration and their partner NGOs will be responsible for the spread of 8 Million illegal immigrants from over 150 countries.

As always, there are two sides to every story. On the one side, we have NGOs that are doing a service to help these people, especially children, who have migrated to a new land and need genuine help getting acclimated. When the Border Patrol reaches capacity in a particular sector, they release processed migrants to NGOs to shelter, feed, and coordinate travel for migrants to their final destination. Catholic Charities USA, Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service, and Church World Services are some of the more present NGOs on our Southern Border. These agencies are essential in doing the work our government cannot provide to ensure the safety of the illegals. On the flip side, these agencies are reaping billions of dollars, taxpayer dollars, to perform their services. These NGOs are not always altruistic or humanitarian. This cooperation between NGOs and the government is a big money game, and we taxpayers are their bank.

According to Forbes, the NGO Catholic Charities USA received $1.4 billion from government support compared with $1 billion in private donations. Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service reported more than $93.1 million in U.S. government grants in its 2021 financial statement, making taxpayer-funded grants more than 80% of its total support.

And that number would only climb as the Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service would receive $182.6 million in grants in the fiscal year of 2022 from the Department of Health and Human Services.
Another NGO, Church World Services, reported more than $20.5 million in grant funds in its 2022 financial report, making more than 40% of its assets coming from taxpayers.

As always, fraud, corruption, and poor planning are present in any interaction with our government. Two situations I have written about in the past are Lewiston, Maine, and Minneapolis, Minnesota, where Catholic charities placed thousands of Somalian refugees in these cities and changed the demographics of the towns forever. These people were placed, often without the consent of the local governments, and immediately placed burdens on city budgets. Housing, food, medical care, and clothing were now expenses for the state and city governments. Schools were inundated with non-English speaking students who were assimilated into public schools, creating an overcrowded situation and a drain on overall student performance.

As of 2021, there are about 1.5 million NGOs in operation in the United States, representing a wide variety of causes. Some NGOs focus on developmental projects, such as clean water, while others promote awareness of specific causes, such as gender equality. All receive a portion of their operating costs from taxpayer dollars, often with little oversight by our government to ensure these dollars are used as intended. There is also little control as to what percentage of our dollars is used for the stated purchase versus eaten up by the “administrative costs” of the NGO.

NGOs are essential in any humanitarian crisis in America. Our government is not capable of supplying all the needs presented by each situation, but unfortunately, our government is not capable of monitoring or policing these NGOs and there in lies the problem and the opportunity for people to dip into the funds for personal gain. That part of the process is where our government and politicians shine and why some politicians love to see these occurrences and NGOs go on and thrive forever. We just keep on paying.