1. United States
2. Ariz.
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, rules-based 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. Harming children because one angry man’s feelings were hurt by a religious leader is pure spite and cowardice. The United States is not Mr. Trump’s fiefdom and our taxpayer dollars are not his to dole out to friends or withhold from perceived enemies. Funds allotted by grants or congressional budgeting must be dispersed as written or our entire economic system rests on the mood of one temperamental person. Restore Catholic Charities funding to provide shelter and care for migrant children.