DHS finds major violations at Catholic Charities Rio Grande Valley shelter

Exclusive – Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley — a South Texas nonprofit long known for the migrant shelter run by Sister Norma Pimentel — has been suspended from receiving federal funds and now faces a rare six-year excommunication after a Department of Homeland Security investigation found significant grant violations, according to internal Department of Homeland Security (DHS) documents shared exclusively with Fox News Digital.

The action, taken by the Federal Emergency Management Agency on behalf of the Department of Homeland Security on Nov. 19 and 20, comes after months of warnings and a data review that auditors say revealed inaccurate information, major gaps in immigrant records and large bills outside federally permitted time frames.

The suspension applies only to this South Texas affiliate, and not to Catholic Charities USA or any other Catholic Charities affiliates nationwide.

In a formal notice of suspension and proposed debarment, DHS officials accused the organization of providing wildly inconsistent immigrant data, and the agency was unable to verify whether many of the people it reported serving had appeared in DHS databases.

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Investigators also alleged at least 248 instances in which the nonprofit billed the government for services outside the 45-day federal rules that allow immigrants released from Homeland Security custody.

FEMA concluded that the group made assurances that its spreadsheets were accurate and compliant, statements the agency said were “false” or “entirely untruthful,” according to the documents.

The proposed punishment is unusually harsh. While federal bans typically last for three years, DHS is seeking a six-year ban because of what it describes as a pattern of “pervasive” problems that spanned multiple programs and multiple years.

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Sister Norma Pimentel of the Rio Grande Valley Chapter of Catholic Charities was mentioned in the DHS memo. (Lee Vogel/Getty Images for Concordia Summit)

If finalized, the designation would cut the organization off from most federal funding sources, flag it in a government-wide award management system, and warn cross-agencies and 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 say it remains “currently responsible.” If not, a six-year ban will likely come into effect.

DHS’s findings focus largely on migrant intake data that the nonprofit provided to justify multimillion-dollar payments through the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) Emergency Food and Shelter Program (EFSP-H) and the more recent Shelter Services Program. FEMA said it asked the group to provide names, A numbers, countries of origin and evidence of DHS encounters with the individuals it claimed to help. In response, the nonprofit told the agency that all immigrants have registered A numbers, and maintained that 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 branch as migrants walk in late 2022. (Jordan Vonderhaar/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

The reality is completely different, auditors said. In the sample sets reviewed by the agency, A numbers were often missing, truncated to four digits, or replaced by phone numbers and other stray entries. The documents show that error rates reached 21%, 26%, and 42% across three spreadsheets. When FEMA tested 100 names, it couldn’t find 61 of them in DHS’s systems at all.

Investigators also cited violations of the Rio Grande 45-day separation rules. Under federal guidelines, NGOs may only pay for food, shelter or transportation for migrants within 45 days of their release from DHS custody.

FEMA told the organization it found at least 248 cases in which billing dates occurred after that window closed, raising concerns that federal dollars were being used for services outside what the law allows. Such activity could amount to “potential criminal activity,” the agency wrote, though DHS has not said whether it plans to refer the case for forensic review.

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The documents also cite the nonprofit’s published audit for fiscal year 2024, which reported “material weaknesses” in internal controls over federal awards, inconsistent admissions procedures and missing documentation for about 5% of sampled recipients. FEMA said corrective action plans were copied almost verbatim from year to year, without meaningful improvements.

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Pimentel, who leads the Rio Grande Valley chapter, has for years been a national figure in immigrant ministry. Its humanitarian shelter was processing more than 1,500 migrants a day at the height of the mass crossings. The Vatican has publicly praised its humanitarian work and has spoken out against a return to the Remain in Mexico policy, saying families forced to wait in Mexico have suffered “enormously.”

But her organization was also 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 the separate matter.

The suspension now puts the Rio Grande Valley operation under simultaneous federal and state scrutiny. It’s not yet clear whether other local shelters or municipal partners can absorb the number of cases in South Texas if the nonprofit ultimately loses federal funds. CCRGV currently serves a much smaller number of migrants than in previous years, but remains one of the main reception points in the region.

The Department of Homeland Security did not say when a final decision on deprivation would 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 has reached out to Catholic Charities for comment.

The Department of Homeland Security noted to Fox News Digital that future bans may occur and that investigations are still ongoing.