The Department of Homeland Security has reinstated federal funding to Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley, a major charitable organization in South Texas operated by Sister Norma Pimentel, a member of the Missionaries of Jesus. The organization had faced a funding suspension initiated during the previous administration.
Last November, DHS suspended federal support to the nonprofit following an investigation. The agency alleged grant violations including inconsistent migrant data submission and use of government funding for migrant assistance beyond the federally permitted 45-day limit. The original notification also stated concerns about trust and citizen safety. DHS had sought to bar the organization from receiving funds for six years.
Pimentel announced the resolution of the matter at an event hosted by Religion News Service at the Texas Tribune Festival in Austin. According to her account, attorneys from Washington, D.C., assisted the organization in responding to the DHS findings. Following meetings with DHS officials, the parties reached an administrative agreement outlining future compliance procedures, which DHS accepted.
Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley, affiliated with the Diocese of Brownsville, provides emergency assistance, homelessness prevention, counseling, and poverty alleviation services. The organization operates the Humanitarian Respite Center, a migrant shelter in McAllen, Texas, which the Border Report indicates has assisted more than 500,000 migrants over more than a decade. Pimentel has served as executive director since 2004 and founded the Respite Center in 2014.
Catholic charitable work with migrant communities has drawn increased attention in recent months. The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops included “the targeting of faith-based immigration services” as a concern in its annual religious liberty report published in January 2025.
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