Politics
DHS moves to cut off South Texas Catholic Charities over migrant grant ‘misconduct,’ documents say
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EXCLUSIVE – Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley – the South Texas nonprofit long known for its migrant shelter run by Sister Norma Pimentel – has been suspended from receiving federal funds and now faces a rare six-year debarment after a Department of Homeland Security investigation found major grant violations, according to internal Department of Homeland Security (DHS) documents shared exclusively with Fox News Digital.
The action, taken by FEMA on behalf of DHS on Nov. 19-20, follows months of warnings and data reviews that auditors say uncovered sweeping inaccuracies, large gaps in migrant records and significant billing outside federally allowed timeframes.
The suspension applies only to this South Texas affiliate, not to Catholic Charities USA or any other Catholic Charities chapters nationwide.
In a formal Notice of Suspension and Proposed Debarment, DHS officials accused the organization of submitting migrant data so inconsistent the agency could not verify whether many of the people it reported serving had ever appeared in DHS databases.
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Migrants stand in line outside the Catholic Charities Humanitarian Respite Center at the Rio Grande Valley chapter in late 2022. (Jordan Vonderhaar/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Investigators also alleged at least 248 instances in which the nonprofit billed the government for services outside the 45-day window federal rules allow for migrants released from DHS custody.
FEMA concluded the group provided assurances that its spreadsheets were accurate and compliant, statements the agency said were “false” or “not entirely truthful,” according to the documents.
The proposed punishment is unusually severe. While federal debarments typically run three years, DHS is seeking a six-year ban due to what it describes as a pattern of “pervasive” problems that spanned multiple programs and multiple years.
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Sister Norma Pimentel with the Rio Grande Valley Chapter of Catholic Charities is named in the DHS memo. (Leigh Vogel/Getty Images for Concordia Summit)
If finalized, the designation would cut the organization off from most federal funding streams and flag it in the government-wide System for Award Management, warning agencies and pass-through partners not to issue new grants.
Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley (CCRGV) now has 30 days to respond, submit documentation or request a meeting to argue it remains “presently responsible.” If it does not, the six-year ban would likely go into effect.
The DHS findings center heavily on migrant intake data the nonprofit submitted to justify millions of dollars in payments through FEMA’s Emergency Food and Shelter-Humanitarian program (EFSP-H) and its newer Shelter Services Program. FEMA said it asked the group to provide names, A-numbers, countries of origin and evidence of DHS encounters for individuals it claimed to assist. In response, the nonprofit told the agency all migrants had A-numbers recorded and asserted its spreadsheets were accurate within a 4.99% margin of error.
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An exterior shot of the Catholic Charities Rio Grande Valley Chapter with migrants walking past in late 2022. (Jordan Vonderhaar/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Auditors said the reality was far different. In sample sets reviewed by the agency, A-numbers were frequently missing, truncated to four digits, or replaced with phone numbers and other stray entries. Error rates reached 21%, 26% and 42% across three spreadsheets, the documents show. When FEMA tested 100 names, it could not find 61 of them in DHS systems at all.
Investigators also stressed the Rio Grande chapter’s 45-day rule violations. Under federal guidelines, NGOs may only bill for food, shelter or transport for migrants within 45 days of their release from DHS custody.
FEMA told the organization it found at least 248 cases where billing dates occurred after that window had closed, raising concerns that federal dollars were used for services outside what the law allows. The agency wrote that such activity could amount to “potential criminal activity,” though DHS has not said whether it plans to refer the case for criminal review.
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The documents further cite the nonprofit’s own posted FY 2024 audit, which reported “material weaknesses” in internal controls over federal awards, inconsistent intake procedures and missing documentation for roughly 5% of sampled recipients. FEMA said corrective-action plans were copied forward almost verbatim year to year, without meaningful improvements.
Catholic leaders have recently pushed back against efforts to cut funding. Pope Leo XIV praised Catholic Charities USA this fall as “agents of hope,” commending its 168 agencies for decades of work with migrants, refugees and the poor.
Pimentel, who leads the Rio Grande Valley branch, has for years been a national figure in migrant ministry. Her Humanitarian Respite Center once processed more than 1,500 migrants per day at the height of mass crossings. She has been publicly praised by the Vatican for her humanitarian work and has spoken out against a return to the Remain in Mexico policy, saying families forced to wait in Mexico suffered “tremendously.”
But her organization has also been a political focal point. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has pursued cases against several Catholic migrant shelters, accusing them of encouraging illegal immigration and operating illegal “stash houses,” including his suit against Annunciation House in El Paso. A judge earlier this year blocked Paxton from deposing Sister Norma in that separate matter.
The suspension now places the Rio Grande Valley operation under simultaneous federal and state scrutiny. It is not yet clear whether other local shelters or municipal partners can absorb the South Texas caseload if the nonprofit ultimately loses federal funds. CCRGV currently serves far fewer migrants than in prior years, but remains one of the region’s key intake points.
DHS has not said when a final decision on debarment will be made. The organization continues to operate during the suspension period but cannot receive new federal awards until the matter is resolved.
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Fox News Digital reached out to Catholic Charities for comment.
DHS noted to Fox News Digital that future debarments may occur and that investigations remain ongoing.
Politics
Republicans light cigars, cigarettes on burning photos of Khamenei to show support for Iranian protesters
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Republican lawmakers are jumping on a social media trend to show their support for the anti-regime protesters in Iran.
Sen. Tim Sheehy, R-Mont., and Rep. Claudia Tenney, R-N.Y., posted photos of themselves using burning photos of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to light up a cigarette and a cigar respectively. Both lawmakers used the caption “Smoke ’em if you got ’em.”
The lawmaker’s images mirror a social media trend in which people are using burning photos of Khamenei to light cigarettes and cigars. The trend emerged as the people of Iran hold increasingly intense protests against the Islamic regime. The movement against the regime has seen increasing support from abroad as world leaders back the people of Iran.
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People gather during a protest on Jan. 8, 2026, in Tehran, Iran. (Anonymous/Getty Images)
Khamenei’s regime has started to crack down on protests and even instituted a sweeping internet blackout to try to quell the unrest. Some have posited that the internet blackout was also meant to impede the spreading of information about and visuals of abuses committed against protesters by regime-backed forces.
Recently, exiled Iranian crown prince Reza Pahlavi has publicly urged President Donald Trump and the U.S. to back protesters in Iran as they fight the decades-old regime.
Sheehy told Fox News Digital that he takes the issue personally, saying that Iran has participated in the torturing, kidnapping and killing of Americans across the globe, “including friends of mine.”
“The Iranian regime are a bunch of murderous b——- who have been chanting ‘death to America’ for the past 46 years. They have backed up this chant by kidnapping, torturing, and killing thousands of Americans all over the world, including friends of mine. For me, it’s personal; it’s time to take out the trash,” Sheehy said in a statement provided to Fox News Digital via email.
Sen. Tim Sheehy, R-Mont., showed his solidarity with the people of Iran by hopping on a social media trend in which she used a burning photo of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to light a cigarette. (Courtesy of Sen. Tim Sheehy’s Office)
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The senator also expressed his solidarity with the people of Iran and encouraged them to keep fighting the regime.
“To the Iranian people — we applaud your courage, keep fighting, and know we fully support your brave efforts to topple this evil regime,” he added.
Tenney’s office also spoke with Fox News Digital about the congresswoman’s post, praising the bravery of the people of Iran for standing up to the regime. Additionally, Tenney’s office expressed the congresswoman’s solidarity with the Iranian people.
“The bravery of the Iranian people in the face of decades of oppression by a brutal, extremist regime is extraordinary. Men and women across Iran are risking their lives to stand up to authoritarian mullahs who have denied them basic freedoms for generations,” Tenney’s office said in a statement to Fox News Digital.
Rep. Claudia Tenney, R-N.Y., showed her solidarity with the people of Iran by hopping on a social media trend in which she used a burning photo of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to light a cigar. (Courtesy of Rep. Claudia Tenney’s Office)
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“The congresswoman stands firmly with the Iranian people and their demand for dignity and self-determination, and believes their courage must be recognized and amplified. Today, the Iranian people finally have an ally in the White House, President Trump, who has made clear that the United States stands with those fighting for freedom against tyranny,” Tenney’s office added.
Trump has been vocal about his support for the people of Iran and has warned that the U.S. would be ready to step in if the regime used violence against protesters.
“Iran is looking at FREEDOM, perhaps like never before,” the president wrote in a Truth Social post on Jan. 10. “The USA stands ready to help!!!”
SACRAMENTO — California announced an investigation into Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence company xAI on Wednesday, with Gov. Gavin Newsom saying that the social media site owned by the billionaire is a “breeding ground for predators to spread nonconsenual sexually explicit AI deepfakes.”
Grok, the xAI chatbot, includes image-generation features that allow users to morph existing photos into new images. The newly created images are then posted publicly on X.
In some cases, users have created sexually explicit or nonconsensual images based on real people, including altered depictions that appear to show individuals partially or fully undressed. Others have generated images that appear to show minors, prompting criticism that there are not sufficient guardrails to prohibit the creation of child pornography.
The social media site has previously said “we take action against illegal content on X, including Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM), by removing it, permanently suspending accounts, and working with local governments and law enforcement as necessary. Anyone using or prompting Grok to make illegal content will suffer the same consequences as if they upload illegal content.”
Newsom called the sexualized images being created on the platform “vile.” Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta said his office will use “all tools at our disposal to keep Californians safe.”
“The avalanche of reports detailing the non-consensual, sexually explicit material that xAI has produced and posted online in recent weeks is shocking,” Bonta said in a statement Wednesday. “This material, which depicts women and children in nude and sexually explicit situations, has been used to harass people across the internet. I urge xAI to take immediate action to ensure this goes no further. We have zero tolerance for the AI-based creation and dissemination of nonconsensual intimate images or of child sexual abuse material.”
Newsom signed a pair of bills in 2024 that made it illegal to create, possess or distribute sexually charged images of minors even when they’re created with computers, not cameras. The measures took effect last year.
Assembly Bill 1831, authored by Assemblymember Marc Berman (D-Menlo Park), expanded the state’s child-porn prohibition to material that “contains a digitally altered or artificial-intelligence-generated depiction [of] what appears to be a person under 18 years of age” engaging in or simulating sexual conduct. Senate Bill 1381, authored by Sen. Aisha Wahab (D-Hayward), amended state law to more clearly prohibit using AI to create images of real children engaged in sexual conduct, or using children as models for digitally altered or AI-generated child pornography.
new video loaded: Supreme Court May Allow States to Bar Transgender Athletes
transcript
transcript
Supreme Court May Allow States to Bar Transgender Athletes
The Supreme Court heard two cases from West Virginia and Idaho on Tuesday. Both concerned barring the participation of transgender athletes in girls’ and women’s sports teams.
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“It is undisputed that states may separate their sports teams based on sex in light of the real biological differences between males and females. States may equally apply that valid sex-based rule to biological males who self-identify as female. Denying a special accommodation to trans-identifying individuals does not discriminate on the basis of sex or gender identity or deny equal protection.” “West Virginia argues that to protect these opportunities for cisgender girls, it has to deny them to B.P.J. But Title IX and the Equal Protection Clause protect everyone. And if the evidence shows there are no relevant physiological differences between B.P.J. and other girls, then there’s no basis to exclude her.” “Given that half the states are allowing it, allowing transgender girls and women to participate, about half are not, why would we at this point, just the role of this court, jump in and try to constitutionalize a rule for the whole country while there’s still, as you say, uncertainty and debate, while there’s still strong interest in other side?” “This court has held in cases like V.M.I. that in general, classification based on sex is impermissible because in general, men and women are simply situated. Where that’s not true is for the sorts of real, enduring, obvious differences that this court talked about in cases like V.M.I., the differences in reproductive biology. I don’t think the pseudoscience you’re suggesting has been baked.” “Well, it’s not pseudo. It’s good science.” “It’s not pseudoscience to say boys’ brain development happens at a different stage than girls does.” “Well, with all respect, I don’t think there’s any science anywhere that is suggested that these intellectual differences are traceable to biological differences.” “Can we avoid your whole similarly situated argument that you run because I don’t really like it that much either? And I’m not trying to prejudice anyone making that argument later. But I mean, I think it opens a huge can of worms that maybe we don’t need to get into here.”
By Meg Felling
January 13, 2026
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