Straight Talk Rewind: In God’s Name? Catholic Charities and the Immigrant Crisis | Ep 68

In honor of Memorial Day, we revisit an important episode from April 2, 2024. Join former Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke as he explores the Catholic Church's role in the ongoing immigration crisis. Sheriff Clarke offers a candid critique of his own faith as he considers Easter's true meaning beyond commercialization, questioning the Church's role in illegal immigration and the financial implications for American taxpayers. 

Discover how charitable intentions can conceal deeper issues and a significant financial burden on the country. Sheriff Clarke shares insights from Crisis Magazine's eye-opening article on the economic and social costs of unchecked immigration. Listen in for a thought-provoking discussion that challenges conventional wisdom and advocates for greater transparency and accountability within religious and political institutions.

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Websites: https://americassheriff.com | https://badgeofhonorcruise.com

Host: Sheriff David Clarke, America's Sheriff

Executive Producer: Judy L. Wilkinson, JL Wilkinson Consulting, LLC 

Producer: Josh Wentz | josh@wentzcreative.com

Copyright 2024  Straight Talk Podcast With America's Sheriff David Clarke     

All Rights Reserved

Chapters

• 1:33 Critique of the Catholic Church's Role in Immigration
• 2:24 Investigating the Impact of Illegal Immigration
• 5:57 The Catholic Church's Involvement in Immigration Funding
• 10:01 Personal Reflections and a Call for Transparency
• 21:02 The Political Landscape and GOP Dynamics

Transcript

Speaker: 1:15

Hello, once again, you are listening to the straight talk podcast. I am your host, former Milwaukee County Sheriff, David Clarke. I hope all of you had a joyous Easter. I know I did. Christ is risen. I think I want to start there with the Catholic church. You know, it's a Christian holiday, but you know, mainly Catholic. Other religions do celebrate Easter Sunday, the Easter season, but, and it's more than, you know, Easter eggs and. Bunny rabbits, you know, that's the commercialization of Easter, which I'm okay with. I don't get all bent out of shape over that. But it's really about Christ having risen from the dead to save all of mankind. He was sent here to die for us, for our sins. And so there's a, you know, there's an aspect of the thing I'm going to talk about next with the Catholic Church. By the way, I am Catholic, and I only mention them because I don't want anybody to think that I'm talking out of turn, you know, speaking, criticizing another religion other than my own. I'm Catholic, and I believe in the philosophy, and I do this on the, you know, the race issue as well, that we, we, we cannot and should not be afraid to self criticize. So I have some criticism of the Catholic Church in, in, in what I'm going to talk about in a moment, and I'm going to make the case as to why. So I come across this story, and this is why. You know, I like to poke around, I like to sift through news feeds, and, you know, not just the breaking news, but I'll go to sites that feature journal articles, you know, well written, to learn what the heck is going on. Nobody in this political environment can know everything that's going on. That's not the goal. But I like to find things that you're not going to see in the breaking news section and talked about by the major networks and the major media sites. Thanks. So I come across a story, and this is from crisismagazine. com, and it says it is the church, talking about the Catholic Church, enabling criminality and facilitating the oppression of immigrants as they are hoping to help. So I'm going to read some excerpts from the story. It's a lengthy article. It's about ten pages, nine, ten pages. But I'm going to read some excerpts and then I'm going to, you know, talk more directly about it from my own perspective. It says, over the last two and a half years, over 7 million illegal immigrants have entered the United States. That number does not include those who escaped detection and are not in any official counts. By the end of 2024, it is projected that well over 10 percent of the population will be here illegally. The result of President Biden's decision not to enforce border laws and the massive illegal immigrant flow takes various forms. Challenges include drug and human trafficking, child abuse, sexual exploitation, indentured servitude, and other labor crimes and environmental crimes, gang violence, assorted welfare frauds, national security concerns, money laundering, homelessness, and a squalor on the streets of American cities and towns, and the corrosive effect of flaunting the rule of law. Goes on to say here, the net, and this is what caught my attention by the way, as I'm reading this article, the net dollar cost of illegal immigration to the American taxpayer. is at least 151 billion dollars a year. Most expenditures at the federal, state, and local level involve housing, education, health care, and increased expenditures on law enforcement and related services. Let me repeat that figure. The net dollar cost of illegal immigration to the American taxpayer is at least 151 billion dollars a year. So the article asks, who stands to benefit? It always comes back to money. The overwhelming majority are economic migrants. They are mostly young males searching for a better life. They come to the United States to make money, both legally and illegally. Most are extremely poor and quasi illiterate. Few speak English. Some are infected with serious communicable diseases. By the way, we're seeing measles outbreaks throughout the United States. Something that this country's had. Under control for the last, I don't know, 40 or 50 years. Now all of a sudden you're seeing cities like Chicago and some of these other sanctuary cities that have had a huge influx of, of illegal immigrants, or migrants, or illegal aliens into their cities. And now they're seeing measles epidemic, measles outbreaks. So it says here, unfortunately with the open border policies in place we really don't know who they are. There are no meaningful background checks. You've heard me talk about that before. Worldwide in 2022. Migrant workers sent almost 800 billion back to their home countries. The United States is the largest source country for world remittances, especially for Latin America and Caribbean countries. It goes on to say here, let's examine the role of the American Catholic Church in facilitating the immigration crisis. Now we're going to get into the meat of this. The role of the Catholic Church. Corporal acts of mercy necessitate that we feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, shelter the homeless, and clothe the naked. Our compassion dictates that we assist strangers to our homeland. When it comes to illegal immigration, is our empathy misplaced? Is the church enabling the above criminality and facilitating the oppression of the immigrants we are hoping to help? I should say they are hoping to help. Are leftists and naive do gooders in the church participating in the transformation of the United States that by far the overwhelming majority of all Americans particularly Catholics, do not want. Decades ago, the State Department began to resettle genuine refugees in the United States. They approached the Catholic Church for help. Today, that legitimate assistance has turned into an illegal immigration complex worth billions of dollars. Pope Francis, a leftist globalist Argentine, Has made the defense of illegal immigration a major plank of his papacy. The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops is all in. Post COVID, weekly mass attendance has continued its steep decline. There's a need to fill both the pews and the collection plates. Oh, oh, is that what this is? Is it really about helping the poor, the less fortunate, and clothing the naked? Or is it like this story said, there's a need to fill both pews and the collection plates. Catholic organizations are among the top recipients of federal immigration funds. Between 2008 and 2022, Catholic charitable organizations received approximately 3 billion in federal funding. The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops acts as a kind of general contractor. It is the single largest grantee of subawards in the nation. The For example, Catholic Charities, remember that group, Catholic Charities, receives direct funding from the United States government, but also sub awards from the Catholic, the Conference of Catholic Bishops. According to Forbes magazine, in 2022, Catholic Charities USA was the 13th largest U. S. charity. Of the 4. 7 billion in total revenues, Catholic Charities received 1. 4 billion from government support. In short, the globalist left and Biden administration are hiding behind faith based organizations to keep federal grants flowing to assist illegal immigration and to deflect from the horrific criminal results. Meanwhile, it is clear many bishop charities benefit financially from their participation and promotion of illegal immigration. The Catholic Church. The article ends by saying, Shouldn't Catholic charitable organizations devote themselves to the problem of poverty, lack of education, inequality, unemployment, and poor health care in the illegal immigrants country of origins? In other words, go and set up missionaries in these other countries instead of facilitating a gateway here in the United States. Instead of helping criminals break U. S. law and transform our country, It appears, once again, it all comes back to the money. Okay, so what do I think about this besides the obvious? First of all, I had no idea. None. And I bet you didn't either. Now, I have nothing against, when I attend church on Sundays, throwing a few shekels into the collection plate as it comes by. You know, to help the poor and help the church. Tithes, as they say in some other religions. The Bible talks about that. I have no problem with that. But knowing what I know now from reading this story, I have a big problem with it because I didn't know that some, if not all of my money, let's go with some. Let's be, let's give them the benefit of the doubt that some of it is going to facilitate this illegal immigration. First of all, where are the separation of church and state people? I know that's not part of the constitution, but you like to hear the left talk about that. Separation of church and state. Where are they? They're giving billions of dollars to the United States government, to a religious organization. Seriously? So, I get this letter, ironically, last week. It's dated March 18th, 2024, from Catholic Charities. Now, I've heard of Catholic Charities before, and they always have this fun drive during the course of the year. It's a real strong push for collections, for this, this, this charitable organization in the Catholic Church. I want to read from this letter. I mean, as soon as I saw this, I knew what it was. I saw the envelope. I go, here's the drive again. But now I'm armed with this information, this here. Dear David, we understand how easy it is to feel overwhelmed with the needs of the world as they are. When we can do a good deed or support a good cause, we feel better because we know we've helped another person along their journey. We are more hopeful. You can help to provide compassionate human services with dignity and respect for families and individuals. who are most in need of our care by becoming a supporter of Catholic Charities. Working together for the common good, we help people of any faith. Times of despair, Catholic Charities is the lighthouse in the storm to help guide and navigate through difficult waters. Without you, it would not be possible for Catholic Charities to be present in our local communities like West Bend, these are all Wisconsin communities, Fond du Lac, Sheboygan, and Brown Deer, Beaver Dam, Racine, Kenosha, blah, blah, blah, go on and on and on and Milwaukee. With your help We're able to uplift neighbors whose outlook has dimmed from ongoing poverty and crisis. We are often their last hope. You notice anything Peculiar about what I'm reading in terms of who they're helping? It says, I invite you to learn more about Catholic Charities through the featured stories in the back of this newsletter. And I have all the, you know, the, the old seniors and the kids and all that stuff, you know, stuff that's supposed to be a tearjerker. The stories detail a person's life and how, with our help, they overcame incredible challenges. There's Jack, who sustained a life threatening injury. They needed help to remain in his home, and it goes on to describe some of the people that they've helped. David, please join us in creating more hope and healing within your community. Your gift to the 2024 Works of Charity Funds carries with it the undeniable potential to make lives better. It can ease the heavy burden of poverty, lessen times of crisis, give warning to self confidence, gives wings, I'm sorry, to self confidence so that we can all move forward together sincerely, and it's got the guy's name here, it's the Chief Operating Officer. P. S. Your trust in our mission will make a difference for neighbors in need. Listen to this, folks. Catholic Charities meets highest standards. Highest standards. And at the bottom, you know, the little pledge card, you know, 100, 50, so on and so forth. Was there any mention in this letter that we assist in the illegal immigration operation here in the United States? Is there anywhere in this letter, it says that's where your money's going? Is there anywhere in this letter that talks about how Catholic Charities received 1. 4 billion dollars from the And so I have to ask, why are they asking me for money? They're getting money from the federal government. Let me read this part again, going back to this story in Crisis Magazine. Between 2008 and 2022, Catholic charitable organizations received approximately 3 billion in federal funding. The Conference of Catholic Bishops acts as a kind of general contractor. For example, Catholic Charities, it's the letter I just got, fundraising letter, receives direct funding from the United States government, but also sub awards from the Conference of Catholic Bishops. In 2022, Catholic Charities USA was the 13th largest U. S. charity. Of 4. 7 billion in total revenues, Catholic Charities received about 1. 4 billion. from government support, then why are they coming to me? I'm not rich. You know, this is a disguise and I don't like it. You come with this, you know, all we want is to help the others, you know, the Bible says, yeah, I know what the Bible says. It doesn't say assist in illegal immigration and facilitate it. It doesn't say take the 1. 4 billion or whatever they're receiving and fund illegal immigration with it. Why don't they use that money to help the poor here in the United States? I'm talking about American citizens. Of any faith, like they said, we help anybody of any faith. So this letter, you know, and it goes out to everybody who's on their list. And that's just about every member because all the churches have the vital information of their members. Some of these people can't afford, some of these people are struggling right now to make ends meet with inflation and the cost of fuel and, and you have these Catholic charities who are getting, who are getting. Billions of dollars from the United States government to fund illegal immigration operations. This illegal immigration, as you know, is part of the reason why we have the sex trafficking and the fentanyl, the Catholic Church is funding that. And you know what their goal is, I mean we're finding it out now when it says follow the money, you know the churches are empty. They're having a hard time filling the pews in church and their collections are down. So that's what their motive is. But I think it's shady. I really do. Don't come to me. You know I was tempted to write a letter to this and send it back with this pledge card, giving nothing. But I was tempted to ask him about this stuff and send a copy of this story so that they can't go into their spin and deny it. And I was going to say, why don't, instead of asking me for money. And all your parishioners, the Catholic Church does not have a lot of wealthy, uh, members. They just don't. So, like I said, you know, I don't mind giving money to support and help the poor, the less fortunate, but not illegal immigration. And they're hiding it. Nobody knows this. Not in the Catholic Church, but I don't think in any faith knows this is going on. But instead, I just ripped it up. Matter of fact, folks, I had to go back in the garbage when I saw this article. I had to go back in, in the garbage to pull this letter back out and it's ripped up, you know, three, I just rip it in half and I rip it again, and I'm holding it here and it's taped together so I could read from it. You know, I got it and I just, it's not a heck with this. And I thought, well, maybe I should send a letter with, you know, with a copy of this story here and ask him to please explain this to me. Why are you hitting me up for cash when your coffers are being filled in the billions of dollars for the federal government to help illegal aliens and to Participate in the structure of illegal immigration in the United States. Why? Explain it to me. And then I just saw, wow David, just throw it away. So I did, but I wanted to share that with you. I just, I thought it was interesting. In this Easter season, All right, let's move on here. Another rhino pops up, threatening to leave the GOP over Donald Trump. You know, these people, they're not very smart. They're not very bright people. These politicians I'm talking about. Specifically the GOP. But there aren't any smart Democrat ones. They're crafty. They connive, but they're not smart people either. But they can outsmart the Republicans, and that's not hard to do. So there's this long list of establishment Many of them rhinos, most of them rhinos, but establishment members of the Republican Party who are trashing Donald Trump for having the nerve to win the nomination once again, third time by the way, to run for president of the United States. Chris Christie, that cheeseburger eating so and so, got into the race, entered the Republican primary for president, said his goal was to stop Donald Trump. He didn't have a vision. He didn't say, I'm running because I want to make this country, put it back together, make it a better place, help, blah, blah, blah. No, he says, I'm here to stop Donald Trump from becoming president. You've heard me talk about that on this podcast. It's not his job. That's the voters job. We get to decide. And boy, does that bother the hell out of these establishment Republicans. Because they, they turn their nose up at us. They look down on us. These establishment rhinos. These elitists, they look down on us voters at the grassroots level, the conservative grassroots level, who vote Republican. You know, they seem to forget, many of these followers of Donald Trump, supporters of Donald Trump, they're not members of the Republican Party. A lot of Donald Trump's supporters right now, They, they weren't even involved in, in, in the electoral process. They bailed out. They gave up. Remember the forgotten man that Donald Trump went after in the 2016 election? The forgotten man. People who had just stopped voting in frustration gave up and he brought them back in the fold. So you have Chris Chrissy, you have Mike Pence, you have Nikki Haley, you know, and, and by the way, those three that I just mentioned. There's some others, but those three all stood up there on that stage in the first debate, Republican primary debate, and raised their hands and said, would you support, uh, who here will support the, do you pledge, I should say, to support the eventual nominee of the, of the Republican party? And they all raised their hands, every last one of them. Pledge! Your word! Honor! Integrity! Character! They said they would. And then as each one of them fell out of the race, They all took it back. What a charade that was. These people, they have no character. They have no integrity. You take a vow, keep your word. But all this is different because it's Donald Trump. And here's another thing that they forget, the people that I mentioned. Here's another thing. Donald Trump didn't make himself the Republican nominee for President of the United States. The voters did. The voters. We decided this is who we want and I don't give a damn what they think about our choice. They always tell us, get on board, shut up, and get on board. When their guy wins, when their woman wins, you're like Mitt Romney, like Bob Dole, like John McCain. So we just had to hold our nose, many of us. Like I said, a lot of Donald Trump supporters right now, they weren't even involved, uh, eight years ago. They weren't involved. They gave up. Bailed out. So, when they're going after Trump, they're mainly slapping at you, the nerve of you, to vote for Donald Trump in these primaries. The nerve of you they're saying. Yeah, the nerve of us. Donald Trump has a following that the others didn't have. It's that simple. And mainly the reason that they don't have a following is because they didn't present a vision for America. America. All they talked about. Was why we can't have Donald Trump representing this party's nominee in the presidential sweepstakes coming up in November That's only talked about. Donald Trump this. He's not worthy. Our party's better than this. That's elitism, but the great Damage that they're doing to this party, and I'm not a member of the Republican Party, by the way I've said that before. I'm a conservative. I've never belonged to a political party. Never. And probably never will. That's my choice. But what they're not taking into account, I said the great damage they're doing to this party. Because you know what? Win, lose, or draw. This is Donald Trump's last go around. November. If he wins, great. You know, hoping and praying. But even if he loses, fear Trump will be over. I mean, let's, let's be on it. You know, for some of you to think, well, he could run again in 2028. You know, stop it. But you know who else is gonna be gone after 2024 if Donald Trump Win, lose, or draw? The voters who don't belong to the Republican Party who would care less, who like Donald Trump, who love Donald Trump, and would walk over hot coals for Donald Trump to vote for him. They're gone, too. Because you know what their attitude is gonna be? They weren't involved in this in 2016, but Donald Trump brought him back into the fold to give me a chance. And he lived up to his word when he became president. They're gone, ladies and gentlemen. And it's going to be a significant drop off of Republican voters, because they're going to go back to not caring anymore. And you know why? Because of the way these elitists treat them, the voters, treat us, and treat our candidate. We will not soon forget this, ladies and gentlemen. I'll tell you right now. Many, I'm not saying what I'm going to do after 2024, but there are many of them that are just going to say to hell with it. You guys treated us like crap. You treated our candidate like crap. You fought against our choice. We're done with you. I mean, who was that guy, the former governor of Mississippi, I can't remember his name, who talked about the Republican Party needs to be the big tent party. We need to be the big tent, he said. We need to get as many people into this tent as we can. That's not what Chris Christie said. And Mike Pence and Nikki Haley and anybody else because there's some other noteworthy politicians. That's not what they're saying We need to be the big tent party. No, they're saying, no, we, we want establishment people. We want to decide. This handful, this cabal, this small handful of people want to decide who's going to be the nominee, who's going to be the primary representative, who's going to be this, this, this, this, and this. That's what it means to be an establishment person. So the latest now is Lisa Murkowski. She's a Republican rhino. She's a rhino extraordinaire. She always has been, and she's still fuming because in her last run for Senate in Alaska, Trump backed her opponent. She's still fuming. So now last week, just from CNN, Lisa Murkowski says she's done with Donald Trump and she won't rule out leaving the GOP. First of all, Lisa, don't threaten us. Just leave. We won't miss you. We'll be better off without you. It goes back to my theory of getting the wrong people off the bus. You've heard me say that. I love that phrase. Getting the wrong people off the bus, the right people on the bus, the right people in the right seats, and then you move the bus. So Lisa Murkowski, I wish she would just go. You know, do like Liz Cheney and, and just, just go. Here's another one. Treats the, the, the, the grassroots conservative voter You know with disdain and disgust. So it says here Lisa Murkowski aghast at Donald Trump's candidacy and the direction of her party won't rule out bolting from the GOP. Aghast at Donald Trump's candidacy. That's a slap in the face to us because Donald Trump didn't make himself the nominee. He didn't anoint himself. He didn't appoint himself the nominee. The voters did. The veteran Alaskan Republican, one of seven Republicans who voted to convict Trump in his second impeachment trial amid the aftermath of January 6th's done with the former president, said she absolutely would not vote for him. Listen to this stuff. Here's a quote from her. I wish the Republicans, I wish that as Republicans, we had a nominee that I could get behind, she told CNN. She's talking to CNN. I certainly can't get behind Donald Trump, which I don't care. The party's shift toward Trump has caused Murkowski to consider her future with the GOP. said she would not say if she would remain a Republican. Asked if she would become an independent. Murkowski said, oh, I think I'm very independent. Yeah, she's a rhino. I just regret that our party is seemingly becoming a party of Donald Trump. She regrets the base voter. You and I. This isn't just an attack on Donald Trump. But they use him. As a reason or as a guise to slap us grassroots, you know, knuckle dragging voters down. Because that's how they see us. The voters get to decide who represents them. That's the hallmark of this whole republic. We the people decide. And your person doesn't always win. And when it does, you know what? You need to take some time to get over it and realize that there's something bigger than you and there's something bigger than your candidate. There's something here bigger than Donald Trump, because like I said, this is his last go around. So they'll be done with Donald Trump, even if he wins, they got four years and then they're done with him. But the damage, like I said, they're doing to this party is, to me, it just blows my mind, ladies and gentlemen. Because they don't realize that, and nobody asks them that. What about the long term effect of this, this hate toward your, your, your voter base? And then, you know, here, Murkowski, she, she also found herself at odds with Senator John McCain's running mate, then Governor Sarah Palin. See what I mean? This is amazing. So I add Lisa Murkowski, and then there are some other GOP ers in the, mainly in the Senate, but some in the House, who say they're not voting for Donald Trump. These are establishment rhinos, for heaven's sakes. That's all they are. Go. Just, Lisa, be gone. And, and as my mom used to say to me when you're happy to see somebody leave, don't let the door hit you where the good Lord splits you. Enjoy your week.