The administration of United States President Donald Trump has canceled an $11 million contract with Catholic Charities for the care of unaccompanied migrant children in the United States.

The decision ends a decades-long partnership between the U.S. government and the Catholic Church, which dates back to efforts to assist Cuban exiles arriving in South Florida.

The development comes amid growing tensions between the administration and sections of the Catholic community, following criticism of the Vatican’s first American pope, Pope Leo XIV, whose ministry has emphasised opposition to the U.S. war with Iran and the protection of migrants.

The Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR), under the Department of Health and Human Services, had for years funded Catholic Charities in Miami to house and care for migrant children who enter the country without parents or guardians.

Catholic Charities operates a federally funded care system for such minors, separate from state-run child welfare services. According to reports, the federal government informed the organisation of the funding termination in late March.

The Archdiocese of Miami said Archbishop Thomas Wenski was unavailable for comment but released a statement expressing concern over the decision.

Wenski described the move as the end of more than 60 years of collaboration, noting that the agency’s services for unaccompanied minors had been widely recognised and served as a model nationwide. He warned that the funding cut would force the programme to shut down within three months.

“The U.S. government has abruptly decided to end more than 60 years of relationship with Catholic Charities in the Archdiocese of Miami,” Wenkski wrote. “The Archdiocese of Miami’s services for unaccompanied minors have been recognized for their excellence and have served as a model for other agencies throughout the country.”

In response, the Department of Health and Human Services said the number of unaccompanied migrant children in federal care had declined significantly to about 1,900 under the Trump administration, compared to a peak of 22,000 during the administration of Joe Biden.

A spokesperson for the department said the government was closing and consolidating unused facilities as part of broader efforts to curb illegal entry and prevent the trafficking of migrant children.