MIAMI \u2014 An abrupt funding cut is raising concern across South Florida, according to an open letter from the Archbishop of Miami.<\/p>\n
He says he\u2019s baffled that a program with deep roots in the region — one that has sheltered tens of thousands of unaccompanied minors since the 1960s, including 14,000 Cuban children during Operation Pedro Pan — is now being forced to shut down.<\/p>\n
The Trump administration confirmed to Local 10 News it is cutting $11 million in funding for the Catholic Charities program that cares for and shelters migrant children who arrive in the U.S. alone.<\/p>\n
The Archdiocese of Miami currently houses dozens of those children in South Florida.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis program that he just cut was the same program that helped the Cubans when we arrived in this country in 1960,\u201d said Sylvia Mu\u00f1oz.<\/p>\n
For Mu\u00f1oz, a devout Catholic and volunteer with immigrant families, the issue is personal.<\/p>\n
\u201cI do because I came like that. I came in 1961,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou were an unaccompanied minor. I was an unaccompanied minor. I flew from La Havana to Miami by myself. I had just turned 14 years old.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cTwo months after my 14th birthday when I came by myself — I still remember it as a trauma.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Department of Health and Human Services defended the funding cut, telling Local 10 News the number of unaccompanied children is significantly lower — about 1,900 compared to a peak of 22,000 during the Biden administration.<\/p>\n
Officials added the move is part of a broader effort to close and consolidate unused facilities, as the Trump administration continues efforts to stop illegal entry and the smuggling and trafficking of unaccompanied children.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe administration is really taking it way too far,\u201d said Tessa Petit of the Florida Immigrant Coalition.<\/p>\n
Petit said she\u2019s concerned about what happens next, even with fewer children in the system.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere are they going to be? Where are they going to go? The foster care system is not set for them,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
The funding cut comes amid an ongoing feud between the president and the pope, as well as backlash over an AI-generated image that offended many Christians who believed it portrayed the president as Jesus — something Trump denies.<\/p>\n
Archbishop Thomas Wenski has planned a press conference for Thursday, where more details are expected on what will happen to the dozens of children currently in the charity\u2019s care.<\/p>\n
\ud83c\udfe0 News From Your Neighborhood<\/p>\n
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