Rep. Lance Gooden, R-Texas, is demanding transparency from Catholic Charities USA as it continues to rake in taxpayer dollars to facilitate illegal immigration.
In Thursday's episode of The Vortex, Church Militant CEO Michael Voris interviewed Rep. Gooden about the billions of dollars Catholic Charities has received from the federal government to further the migration crisis at the southern border.
The Texas representative proclaimed, "American people from both sides of the aisle — if they really knew what was going on with this funding of this migrant crisis with our taxpayer dollars in the name of 'the Lord's work' — the American people would be outraged."
Gooden has served as the U.S. representative for the 5th Congressional District in Texas since 2019. He first became aware of the problems with Catholic Charities USA — a subgroup of the U.S. bishops — through a trip to California shortly after Joe Biden took office.
The congressman explained:
I took a trip to San Diego. It was a first stop of mine, and I encountered Catholic Charities among others. They were encouraging — in their actions — this open border and this mass migration problem that we have. And while perhaps one could argue that their motives are pure and that they want to take care of anyone in need, as a United States citizen and a lawmaker, I've got a real problem with any activity that incentivizes bad activity.
Rep. Gooden declared, "Mass migration is something this country just cannot afford right now, not only financially but from a security perspective."
It's an open border paid for by the taxpayer, and that's got to stop.
The Texan detailed the actions of Catholic Charities and other groups:
What Catholic Charities and Jewish Family Services and the Lutherans and several others are doing down at the border is they are using our tax dollars to encourage mass migration. They're going down to the border. They're welcoming caravan buses full of migrants. They're putting them up in hotels. They're sometimes giving them gift cards. They're giving them maps. They're giving them plane tickets. They're telling them, "When you get to whatever city it is you want to go to, this is what you need to do to assimilate, get your children enrolled in schools and stay. You don't have to show up to this court date." They are a part of the problem.
This caused the representative to start asking questions and demand financial transparency from Catholic Charities.
"As a member of Congress, it's my responsibility and my right to
provide oversight for any organization receiving tax dollars, and so
that's something that I've started to attempt to do," Rep. Gooden said
in his interview with Church Militant.
He added that, while stonewalling his requests for documents, Catholic Charities has "called me a liar. Their spokespeople around the nation have said I was slandering them."
He has urged the organization:
If what I'm saying is not true, then send me the documents that I'm asking for. If you're receiving taxpayer funds and you're doing the work of the Lord and I am so wrong, then give me what I'm asking for, and I'll say I'm sorry. The fact that they say I'm lying and I'm uninformed and foolish — [yet] all the while they don't provide me with the oversight information that I have asked of them — tells me I'm on to something.
Rep. Gooden also revealed that some bishops in Texas are pushing the narrative that the congressman isn't telling the truth. However, he reports lay members of the Church have been supportive of his efforts.
I think we are to the point where it's time to have subpoenas.
"I'm not at war with the Catholic Church," Gooden assured.
He clarifies:
My beef is with the leadership of any organization that receives taxpayer funds, doesn't tell [Congress] how they're being spent, denies the fact that they're being spent in a way to further our immigration problem, and then goes and tells my constituents and colleagues that I'm slandering their good name.
When asked about holding organizations accountable, Rep. Gooden warned, "I think we are to the point where it's time to have subpoenas if Catholic Charities don't [sic] want to respond to my very reasonable letters asking for detailed accounting of where their funds are going — where their funds are coming from."
The organization should assume transparency is expected because citizens fund its efforts, he insists.
"As long as they're receiving taxpayer dollars, they should have no problem with scrutiny. Scrutiny comes with the accepting of taxpayer dollars," Rep. Gooden emphasized.
He expressed a desire for government to stop giving money to charities to process and encourage illegal immigration, but at the same time hold to account any organizations that have already received money for such work.
"I'd like to have a hearing," the Texas congressman urged. "I want the American people to know how serious this problem is. It's not just an open border problem. It's an open border paid for by the taxpayer, and that's got to stop."
As long as they're receiving taxpayer dollars, they should have no problem with scrutiny.
Rep. Gooden also took the U.S. bishops to task for seemingly prioritizing money over souls. He proclaimed:
I want the Catholic parishioners around the nation — in my district especially, since I'm so involved — to know that the information they're getting from their leadership at the Catholic conference of bishops is not accurate. I'm not going to call them liars, but I will say they're spreading false information. They're damaging, I believe, a once great reputation that they had, and I think they should get back to the business of saving souls and get away from the business of using taxpayer funds to enrich an agenda that I believe has really strayed from their original purpose.