1. United States
2. N.J.
3. Letter

The Trump administration has abruptly canceled an $11 million contract with Catholic Charities to shelter and care for migrant children who enter the U.S. alone, ending a relationship between the Catholic Church and the U.S. government dating back to the first arrivals of Cuban exiles in South Florida. Retaliatory politics are tactics used by dictatorial regimes, not freely elected administrations. Worse yet, when Trump performs actions of this nature, the people he is trying to hurt- in this case the Pope- are rarely the ones who will actually be hurt- in this case, the migrant children. We know Trump hates women, children, and especially the undocumented, so cutting these ties is not out of character for him. What we do not accept however, is the rationale. Harming children because one angry orange man’s feelings were hurt by a religious leader is pure spite and cowardice. Protect children from predators. Protect children from Trump.