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EXCLUSIVE – Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley – the South Texas nonprofit lengthy identified for its migrant shelter run by Sister Norma Pimentel – has been suspended from receiving federal funds and now faces a uncommon six-year debarment after a Division of Homeland Safety investigation discovered main grant violations, in response to inner Division of Homeland Safety (DHS) paperwork shared completely with Fox Information Digital.
The motion, taken by FEMA on behalf of DHS on Nov. 19-20, follows months of warnings and knowledge critiques that auditors say uncovered sweeping inaccuracies, giant gaps in migrant data and vital billing outdoors federally allowed timeframes.
The suspension applies solely to this South Texas affiliate, to not Catholic Charities USA or another Catholic Charities chapters nationwide.
In a proper Discover of Suspension and Proposed Debarment, DHS officers accused the group of submitting migrant knowledge so inconsistent the company couldn’t confirm whether or not most of the folks it reported serving had ever appeared in DHS databases.
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Migrants stand in line outdoors the Catholic Charities Humanitarian Respite Heart on the Rio Grande Valley chapter in late 2022. (Jordan Vonderhaar/Bloomberg through Getty Pictures)
Investigators additionally alleged at the least 248 cases during which the nonprofit billed the federal government for providers outdoors the 45-day window federal guidelines permit for migrants launched from DHS custody.
FEMA concluded the group supplied assurances that its spreadsheets had been correct and compliant, statements the company stated had been “false” or “not totally truthful,” in response to the paperwork.
The proposed punishment is unusually extreme. Whereas federal debarments sometimes run three years, DHS is searching for a six-year ban on account of what it describes as a sample of “pervasive” issues that spanned a number of packages and a number of years.
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Sister Norma Pimentel with the Rio Grande Valley Chapter of Catholic Charities is called within the DHS memo. (Leigh Vogel/Getty Pictures for Concordia Summit)
If finalized, the designation would minimize the group off from most federal funding streams and flag it within the government-wide System for Award Administration, warning businesses and pass-through companions to not concern new grants.
Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley (CCRGV) now has 30 days to reply, submit documentation or request a gathering to argue it stays “presently accountable.” If it doesn’t, the six-year ban would seemingly go into impact.
The DHS findings heart closely on migrant consumption knowledge the nonprofit submitted to justify thousands and thousands of {dollars} in funds by means of FEMA’s Emergency Meals and Shelter-Humanitarian program (EFSP-H) and its newer Shelter Providers Program. FEMA stated it requested the group to offer names, A-numbers, nations of origin and proof of DHS encounters for people it claimed to help. In response, the nonprofit advised the company all migrants had A-numbers recorded and asserted its spreadsheets had been correct inside a 4.99% margin of error.
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An exterior shot of the Catholic Charities Rio Grande Valley Chapter with migrants strolling previous in late 2022. (Jordan Vonderhaar/Bloomberg through Getty Pictures)
Auditors stated the truth was far totally different. In pattern units reviewed by the company, A-numbers had been regularly lacking, truncated to 4 digits, or changed with telephone numbers and different stray entries. Error charges reached 21%, 26% and 42% throughout three spreadsheets, the paperwork present. When FEMA examined 100 names, it couldn’t discover 61 of them in DHS techniques in any respect.
Investigators additionally pressured the Rio Grande chapter’s 45-day rule violations. Below federal tips, NGOs might solely invoice for meals, shelter or transport for migrants inside 45 days of their launch from DHS custody.
FEMA advised the group it discovered at the least 248 circumstances the place billing dates occurred after that window had closed, elevating issues that federal {dollars} had been used for providers outdoors what the regulation permits. The company wrote that such exercise may quantity to “potential prison exercise,” although DHS has not stated whether or not it plans to refer the case for prison evaluation.
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The paperwork additional cite the nonprofit’s personal posted FY 2024 audit, which reported “materials weaknesses” in inner controls over federal awards, inconsistent consumption procedures and lacking documentation for roughly 5% of sampled recipients. FEMA stated corrective-action plans had been copied ahead nearly verbatim 12 months to 12 months, with out significant enhancements.
Catholic leaders have just lately pushed again in opposition to efforts to chop funding. Pope Leo XIV praised Catholic Charities USA this fall as “brokers of hope,” commending its 168 businesses for many years of labor with migrants, refugees and the poor.
Pimentel, who leads the Rio Grande Valley department, has for years been a nationwide determine in migrant ministry. Her Humanitarian Respite Heart as soon as processed greater than 1,500 migrants per day on the top of mass crossings. She has been publicly praised by the Vatican for her humanitarian work and has spoken out in opposition to a return to the Stay in Mexico coverage, saying households compelled to attend in Mexico suffered “tremendously.”
However her group has additionally been a political point of interest. Texas Lawyer Normal Ken Paxton has pursued circumstances in opposition to a number of Catholic migrant shelters, accusing them of encouraging unlawful immigration and working unlawful “stash homes,” together with his go well with in opposition to Annunciation Home in El Paso. A decide earlier this 12 months blocked Paxton from deposing Sister Norma in that separate matter.
The suspension now locations the Rio Grande Valley operation underneath simultaneous federal and state scrutiny. It isn’t but clear whether or not different native shelters or municipal companions can take up the South Texas caseload if the nonprofit finally loses federal funds. CCRGV at present serves far fewer migrants than in prior years, however stays one of many area’s key consumption factors.
DHS has not stated when a ultimate resolution on debarment might be made. The group continues to function in the course of the suspension interval however can not obtain new federal awards till the matter is resolved.
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Fox Information Digital reached out to Catholic Charities for remark.
DHS famous to Fox Information Digital that future debarments might happen and that investigations stay ongoing.
