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Native American students miss school at higher rates. It only got worse during the pandemic

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Native American students miss school at higher rates. It only got worse during the pandemic
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Native American students miss school at higher rates. It only got worse during the pandemic

2024-12-03 13:07 Last Updated At:13:32

SAN CARLOS, Ariz. (AP) — After missing 40 days of school last year, Tommy Betom, 10, is on track this year for much better attendance. The importance of showing up has been stressed repeatedly at school — and at home.

When he went to school last year, he often came home saying the teacher was picking on him and other kids were making fun of his clothes. But Tommy's grandmother Ethel Marie Betom, who became one of his caregivers after his parents split, said she told him to choose his friends carefully and to behave in class.

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Rice Intermediate School student Gabriella Logan, 10, talks about her school experience Tuesday, Aug. 27, 2024, in San Carlos, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

Rice Intermediate School student Gabriella Logan, 10, talks about her school experience Tuesday, Aug. 27, 2024, in San Carlos, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

Nicholas Ferro, principal of Rice Intermediate School, talks about the student experience Tuesday, Aug. 27, 2024, in San Carlos, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

Nicholas Ferro, principal of Rice Intermediate School, talks about the student experience Tuesday, Aug. 27, 2024, in San Carlos, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

Rice Intermediate School Principal Nicholas Ferro walks to a classroom at Rice Intermediate School Tuesday, Aug. 27, 2024, in San Carlos, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

Rice Intermediate School Principal Nicholas Ferro walks to a classroom at Rice Intermediate School Tuesday, Aug. 27, 2024, in San Carlos, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

Jason Jones, cultural success coach and care center manager, talks about the care center at San Carlos High School Tuesday, Aug. 27, 2024, in San Carlos, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

Jason Jones, cultural success coach and care center manager, talks about the care center at San Carlos High School Tuesday, Aug. 27, 2024, in San Carlos, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

Paula Wilson, cultural success coach at Rice Primary School talks about the Care Center Tuesday, Aug. 27, 2024, in San Carlos, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

Paula Wilson, cultural success coach at Rice Primary School talks about the Care Center Tuesday, Aug. 27, 2024, in San Carlos, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

Velma Kitcheyan, a third grade teacher at Rice Intermediate School, instructs her students Tuesday, Aug. 27, 2024, in San Carlos, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

Velma Kitcheyan, a third grade teacher at Rice Intermediate School, instructs her students Tuesday, Aug. 27, 2024, in San Carlos, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

Rice Intermediate School Principal Nicholas Ferro walks to the main building on campus Tuesday, Aug. 27, 2024, in San Carlos, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

Rice Intermediate School Principal Nicholas Ferro walks to the main building on campus Tuesday, Aug. 27, 2024, in San Carlos, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

Principal Nicholas Ferro, left, talks with teacher Chirstine Monroid in her classroom at Rice Intermediate School Tuesday, Aug. 27, 2024, in San Carlos, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

Principal Nicholas Ferro, left, talks with teacher Chirstine Monroid in her classroom at Rice Intermediate School Tuesday, Aug. 27, 2024, in San Carlos, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

Third grade teachers Ciara Key, left, and Arden Serrato handing out tests, Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024, at Algodones Elementary School in Algodones, N.M. (AP Photo/Roberto E. Rosales)

Third grade teachers Ciara Key, left, and Arden Serrato handing out tests, Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024, at Algodones Elementary School in Algodones, N.M. (AP Photo/Roberto E. Rosales)

Second grade teacher Lori Spina taking a photo of her class for her newsletter Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024, at Algodones Elementary School in Algodones, N.M. (AP Photo/Roberto E. Rosales)

Second grade teacher Lori Spina taking a photo of her class for her newsletter Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024, at Algodones Elementary School in Algodones, N.M. (AP Photo/Roberto E. Rosales)

An American flag and New Mexico flag fly at Algodones Elementary School, Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024, at Algodones Elementary School in Algodones, N.M. (AP Photo/Roberto E. Rosales)

An American flag and New Mexico flag fly at Algodones Elementary School, Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024, at Algodones Elementary School in Algodones, N.M. (AP Photo/Roberto E. Rosales)

Social worker Mary Schmauss, left, and attendance clerk Katrice Grant, discussing truancy cases they need to tackle, Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024, at Algodones Elementary School in Algodones, N.M. (AP Photo/Roberto E. Rosales)

Social worker Mary Schmauss, left, and attendance clerk Katrice Grant, discussing truancy cases they need to tackle, Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024, at Algodones Elementary School in Algodones, N.M. (AP Photo/Roberto E. Rosales)

Social worker Mary Schmauss, rear right, greets students as they arrive for school, Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024, at Algodones Elementary School in Algodones, N.M. (AP Photo/Roberto E. Rosales)

Social worker Mary Schmauss, rear right, greets students as they arrive for school, Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024, at Algodones Elementary School in Algodones, N.M. (AP Photo/Roberto E. Rosales)

Social worker Mary Schmauss, right, greets students as they arrive for school, Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024, at Algodones Elementary School in Algodones, N.M. (AP Photo/Roberto E. Rosales)

Social worker Mary Schmauss, right, greets students as they arrive for school, Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024, at Algodones Elementary School in Algodones, N.M. (AP Photo/Roberto E. Rosales)

Principal Rosangela Montoya walks Jahim Chavez, 7, back into the school from the playground, Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024, at Algodones Elementary School in Algodones, N.M. (AP Photo/Roberto E. Rosales)

Principal Rosangela Montoya walks Jahim Chavez, 7, back into the school from the playground, Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024, at Algodones Elementary School in Algodones, N.M. (AP Photo/Roberto E. Rosales)

Principal Rosangela Montoya waves goodbye to parents as students arrive at school, Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024, at Algodones Elementary School in Algodones, N.M. (AP Photo/Roberto E. Rosales)

Principal Rosangela Montoya waves goodbye to parents as students arrive at school, Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024, at Algodones Elementary School in Algodones, N.M. (AP Photo/Roberto E. Rosales)

Attendance Clerk Katrice Grant looks to help a student get out a a car as he is dropped off at school, Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024, at Algodones Elementary School in Algodones, N.M. (AP Photo/Roberto E. Rosales)

Attendance Clerk Katrice Grant looks to help a student get out a a car as he is dropped off at school, Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024, at Algodones Elementary School in Algodones, N.M. (AP Photo/Roberto E. Rosales)

Attendance Clerk Katrice Grant follows siblings Melanie Pacheco, 8, right and Marilynn Pacheco, 5, as they arrive for school, Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024, at Algodones Elementary School in Algodones, N.M. (AP Photo/Roberto E. Rosales)

Attendance Clerk Katrice Grant follows siblings Melanie Pacheco, 8, right and Marilynn Pacheco, 5, as they arrive for school, Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024, at Algodones Elementary School in Algodones, N.M. (AP Photo/Roberto E. Rosales)

Attendance Clerk Katrice Grant speaks to siblings Melanie Pacheco, 8, left, and Marilynn Pacheco, 5, in the hallway before heading to their classrooms, Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024, at Algodones Elementary School in Algodones, N.M. (AP Photo/Roberto E. Rosales)

Attendance Clerk Katrice Grant speaks to siblings Melanie Pacheco, 8, left, and Marilynn Pacheco, 5, in the hallway before heading to their classrooms, Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024, at Algodones Elementary School in Algodones, N.M. (AP Photo/Roberto E. Rosales)

He needs to go to school for the sake of his future, she told him.

“I didn’t have everything,” said Betom, an enrolled member of the San Carlos Apache tribe. Tommy attends school on the tribe's reservation in southeastern Arizona. “You have everything. You have running water in the house, bathrooms and a running car.”

A teacher and a truancy officer also reached out to Tommy's family to address his attendance. He was one of many. Across the San Carlos Unified School District, 76% of students were chronically absent during the 2022-2023 school year, meaning they missed 10% or more of the school year.

This story is part of a collaboration on chronic absenteeism among Native American students between The Associated Press and ICT, a news outlet that covers Indigenous issues.

Years after COVID-19 disrupted American schools, nearly every state is still struggling with attendance. But attendance has been worse for Native American students — a disparity that existed before the pandemic and has since grown, according to data collected by The Associated Press.

Out of 34 states with data available for the 2022-2023 school year, half had absenteeism rates for Native American and Alaska Native students that were at least 9 percentage points higher than the state average.

Many schools serving Native students have been working to strengthen connections with families, who often struggle with higher rates of illness and poverty. Schools also must navigate distrust dating back to the U.S. government's campaign to break up Native American culture, language and identity by forcing children into abusive boarding schools.

History "may cause them to not see the investment in a public school education as a good use of their time,” said Dallas Pettigrew, director of Oklahoma University's Center for Tribal Social Work and a member of the Cherokee Nation.

The San Carlos school system recently introduced care centers that partner with hospitals, dentists and food banks to provide services to students at multiple schools. The work is guided by cultural success coaches — school employees who help families address challenges that keep students from coming to school.

Nearly 100% of students in the district are Native and more than half of families have incomes below the federal poverty level. Many students come from homes that deal with alcoholism and drug abuse, Superintendent Deborah Dennison said.

Students miss school for reasons ranging from anxiety to unstable living conditions, said Jason Jones, a cultural success coach at San Carlos High School and an enrolled member of the San Carlos Apache tribe. Acknowledging their fears, grief and trauma helps him connect with students, he said.

“You feel better, you do better,” Jones said. "That’s our job here in the care center is to help the students feel better.”

In the 2023-2024 school year, the chronic absenteeism rate in the district fell from 76% to 59% — an improvement Dennison attributes partly to efforts to address their communities' needs.

“All these connections with the community and the tribe are what’s making a difference for us and making the school a system that fits them rather than something that has been forced upon them, like it has been for over a century of education in Indian Country,” said Dennison, a member of the Navajo Nation.

In three states — Alaska, Nebraska, and South Dakota — the majority of Native American and Alaska Native students were chronically absent. In some states, it has continued to worsen, even while improving slightly for other students, as in Arizona, where chronic absenteeism for Native students rose from 22% in 2018-2019 to 45% in 2022-2023.

AP's analysis does not include data on schools managed by the U.S. Bureau of Indian Education, which are not run by traditional districts. Less than 10% of Native American students attend BIE schools.

At Algodones Elementary School, which serves a handful of Native American pueblos along New Mexico's Upper Rio Grande, about two-thirds of students are chronically absent.

The communities were hit hard by COVID-19, with devastating impacts on elders. Since schools reopened, students have been slow to return. Excused absences for sick days are still piling up — in some cases, Principal Rosangela Montoya suspects, students are stressed about falling behind academically.

Staff and tribal liaisons have been analyzing every absence and emphasizing connections with parents. By 10 a.m., telephone calls go out to the homes of absent students. Next steps include in-person meetings with those students’ parents.

“There’s illness. There’s trauma,” Montoya said. “A lot of our grandparents are the ones raising the children so that the parents can be working.”

About 95% of Algodones' students are Native American, and the school strives to affirm their identity. It doesn't open on four days set aside for Native American ceremonial gatherings, and students are excused for absences on other cultural days as designated by the nearby pueblos.

For Jennifer Tenorio, it makes a difference that the school offers classes in the family’s native language of Keres. She speaks Keres at home, but says that’s not always enough to instill fluency.

Tenorio said her two oldest children, now in their 20s, were discouraged from speaking Keres when enrolled in the federal Head Start educational program — a system that now promotes native language preservation — and they struggled academically.

“It was sad to see with my own eyes,” said Tenorio, a single parent and administrative assistant who has used the school's food bank. “In Algodones, I saw a big difference to where the teachers were really there for the students, and for all the kids, to help them learn.”

Over a lunch of strawberry milk and enchiladas on a recent school day, her 8-year-old son Cameron Tenorio said he likes math and wants to be a policeman.

“He’s inspired,” Tenorio said. “He tells me every day what he learns.”

In Arizona, Rice Intermediate School Principal Nicholas Ferro said better communication with families, including Tommy Betom's, has helped improve attendance. Since many parents are without working phones, he said, that often means home visits.

Lillian Curtis said she has been impressed by Rice Intermediate's student activities on family night. Her granddaughter, Brylee Lupe, 10, missed 10 days of school by mid-October last year but had missed just two days by the same time this year.

“The kids always want to go — they are anxious to go to school now. And Brylee is much more excited,” said Curtis, who takes care of her grandchildren.

Curtis said she tells Brylee that skipping school is not an option.

“I just told her that you need to be in school, because who is going to be supporting you?” Curtis said. “You've got to do it on your own. You got to make something of yourself.”

The district has made gains because it is changing the perception of school and what it can offer, said Dennison, the superintendent. Its efforts have helped not just with attendance but also morale, especially at the high school, she said.

“Education was a weapon for the U.S. government back in the past,” she said. “We work to decolonize our school system.”

Lee reported from Santa Fe, New Mexico, and Lurye reported from New Orleans. Alia Wong of The Associated Press and Felix Clary of ICT contributed to this report.

The Associated Press’ education coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.

Rice Intermediate School student Gabriella Logan, 10, talks about her school experience Tuesday, Aug. 27, 2024, in San Carlos, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

Rice Intermediate School student Gabriella Logan, 10, talks about her school experience Tuesday, Aug. 27, 2024, in San Carlos, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

Nicholas Ferro, principal of Rice Intermediate School, talks about the student experience Tuesday, Aug. 27, 2024, in San Carlos, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

Nicholas Ferro, principal of Rice Intermediate School, talks about the student experience Tuesday, Aug. 27, 2024, in San Carlos, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

Rice Intermediate School Principal Nicholas Ferro walks to a classroom at Rice Intermediate School Tuesday, Aug. 27, 2024, in San Carlos, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

Rice Intermediate School Principal Nicholas Ferro walks to a classroom at Rice Intermediate School Tuesday, Aug. 27, 2024, in San Carlos, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

Jason Jones, cultural success coach and care center manager, talks about the care center at San Carlos High School Tuesday, Aug. 27, 2024, in San Carlos, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

Jason Jones, cultural success coach and care center manager, talks about the care center at San Carlos High School Tuesday, Aug. 27, 2024, in San Carlos, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

Paula Wilson, cultural success coach at Rice Primary School talks about the Care Center Tuesday, Aug. 27, 2024, in San Carlos, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

Paula Wilson, cultural success coach at Rice Primary School talks about the Care Center Tuesday, Aug. 27, 2024, in San Carlos, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

Velma Kitcheyan, a third grade teacher at Rice Intermediate School, instructs her students Tuesday, Aug. 27, 2024, in San Carlos, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

Velma Kitcheyan, a third grade teacher at Rice Intermediate School, instructs her students Tuesday, Aug. 27, 2024, in San Carlos, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

Rice Intermediate School Principal Nicholas Ferro walks to the main building on campus Tuesday, Aug. 27, 2024, in San Carlos, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

Rice Intermediate School Principal Nicholas Ferro walks to the main building on campus Tuesday, Aug. 27, 2024, in San Carlos, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

Principal Nicholas Ferro, left, talks with teacher Chirstine Monroid in her classroom at Rice Intermediate School Tuesday, Aug. 27, 2024, in San Carlos, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

Principal Nicholas Ferro, left, talks with teacher Chirstine Monroid in her classroom at Rice Intermediate School Tuesday, Aug. 27, 2024, in San Carlos, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

Third grade teachers Ciara Key, left, and Arden Serrato handing out tests, Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024, at Algodones Elementary School in Algodones, N.M. (AP Photo/Roberto E. Rosales)

Third grade teachers Ciara Key, left, and Arden Serrato handing out tests, Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024, at Algodones Elementary School in Algodones, N.M. (AP Photo/Roberto E. Rosales)

Second grade teacher Lori Spina taking a photo of her class for her newsletter Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024, at Algodones Elementary School in Algodones, N.M. (AP Photo/Roberto E. Rosales)

Second grade teacher Lori Spina taking a photo of her class for her newsletter Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024, at Algodones Elementary School in Algodones, N.M. (AP Photo/Roberto E. Rosales)

An American flag and New Mexico flag fly at Algodones Elementary School, Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024, at Algodones Elementary School in Algodones, N.M. (AP Photo/Roberto E. Rosales)

An American flag and New Mexico flag fly at Algodones Elementary School, Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024, at Algodones Elementary School in Algodones, N.M. (AP Photo/Roberto E. Rosales)

Social worker Mary Schmauss, left, and attendance clerk Katrice Grant, discussing truancy cases they need to tackle, Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024, at Algodones Elementary School in Algodones, N.M. (AP Photo/Roberto E. Rosales)

Social worker Mary Schmauss, left, and attendance clerk Katrice Grant, discussing truancy cases they need to tackle, Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024, at Algodones Elementary School in Algodones, N.M. (AP Photo/Roberto E. Rosales)

Social worker Mary Schmauss, rear right, greets students as they arrive for school, Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024, at Algodones Elementary School in Algodones, N.M. (AP Photo/Roberto E. Rosales)

Social worker Mary Schmauss, rear right, greets students as they arrive for school, Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024, at Algodones Elementary School in Algodones, N.M. (AP Photo/Roberto E. Rosales)

Social worker Mary Schmauss, right, greets students as they arrive for school, Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024, at Algodones Elementary School in Algodones, N.M. (AP Photo/Roberto E. Rosales)

Social worker Mary Schmauss, right, greets students as they arrive for school, Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024, at Algodones Elementary School in Algodones, N.M. (AP Photo/Roberto E. Rosales)

Principal Rosangela Montoya walks Jahim Chavez, 7, back into the school from the playground, Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024, at Algodones Elementary School in Algodones, N.M. (AP Photo/Roberto E. Rosales)

Principal Rosangela Montoya walks Jahim Chavez, 7, back into the school from the playground, Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024, at Algodones Elementary School in Algodones, N.M. (AP Photo/Roberto E. Rosales)

Principal Rosangela Montoya waves goodbye to parents as students arrive at school, Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024, at Algodones Elementary School in Algodones, N.M. (AP Photo/Roberto E. Rosales)

Principal Rosangela Montoya waves goodbye to parents as students arrive at school, Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024, at Algodones Elementary School in Algodones, N.M. (AP Photo/Roberto E. Rosales)

Attendance Clerk Katrice Grant looks to help a student get out a a car as he is dropped off at school, Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024, at Algodones Elementary School in Algodones, N.M. (AP Photo/Roberto E. Rosales)

Attendance Clerk Katrice Grant looks to help a student get out a a car as he is dropped off at school, Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024, at Algodones Elementary School in Algodones, N.M. (AP Photo/Roberto E. Rosales)

Attendance Clerk Katrice Grant follows siblings Melanie Pacheco, 8, right and Marilynn Pacheco, 5, as they arrive for school, Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024, at Algodones Elementary School in Algodones, N.M. (AP Photo/Roberto E. Rosales)

Attendance Clerk Katrice Grant follows siblings Melanie Pacheco, 8, right and Marilynn Pacheco, 5, as they arrive for school, Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024, at Algodones Elementary School in Algodones, N.M. (AP Photo/Roberto E. Rosales)

Attendance Clerk Katrice Grant speaks to siblings Melanie Pacheco, 8, left, and Marilynn Pacheco, 5, in the hallway before heading to their classrooms, Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024, at Algodones Elementary School in Algodones, N.M. (AP Photo/Roberto E. Rosales)

Attendance Clerk Katrice Grant speaks to siblings Melanie Pacheco, 8, left, and Marilynn Pacheco, 5, in the hallway before heading to their classrooms, Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024, at Algodones Elementary School in Algodones, N.M. (AP Photo/Roberto E. Rosales)

ROME (AP) — Pope Francis issued a major rebuke Tuesday to the Trump administration’s mass deportation of migrants, warning that the program to forcefully deport people purely because of their illegal status deprives them of their inherent dignity and “will end badly.”

Francis took the remarkable step of addressing the U.S. migrant crackdown in a letter to U.S. bishops who have criticized the expulsions as harming the most vulnerable.

History's first Latin American pope has long made caring for migrants a priority of his pontificate, demanding that countries welcome, protect, promote and integrate those fleeing conflicts, poverty and climate disasters. Francis has also said governments are expected to do so to the limits of their capacity.

In the letter, Francis said nations have the right to defend themselves and keep their communities safe from criminals.

“That said, the act of deporting people who in many cases have left their own land for reasons of extreme poverty, insecurity, exploitation, persecution or serious deterioration of the environment, damages the dignity of many men and women, and of entire families, and places them in a state of particular vulnerability and defenselessness,” he wrote.

Citing the biblical stories of migration, the people of Israel, the Book of Exodus and Jesus Christ’s own experience, Francis affirmed the right of people to seek shelter and safety in other lands and said he was concerned with what is going on in the United States.

“I have followed closely the major crisis that is taking place in the United States with the initiation of a program of mass deportations,” Francis wrote. “The rightly formed conscience cannot fail to make a critical judgment and express its disagreement with any measure that tacitly or explicitly identifies the illegal status of some migrants with criminality.”

It is one thing to develop a policy to regulate migration legally, it is another to expel people purely on the basis of their illegal status, he wrote.

“What is built on the basis of force, and not on the truth about the equal dignity of every human being, begins badly and will end badly,” he said.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said last week that more than 8,000 people had been arrested in immigration enforcement actions since Trump took office Jan. 20. Some have been deported, others are being held in federal prisons while others are being held at the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base in Cuba.

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops put out an unusually critical statement after Trump’s initial executive orders, saying those “focused on the treatment of immigrants and refugees, foreign aid, expansion of the death penalty, and the environment, are deeply troubling and will have negative consequences, many of which will harm the most vulnerable among us.”

It was a strong rebuke from the U.S. Catholic hierarchy, which considers abortion to be the “preeminent priority” for Catholic voters and had cheered the 2022 Supreme Court decision to end constitutional protections for abortion that was made possible by Trump-appointed justices. Trump won 54% of Catholic voters in the 2024 election, a wider margin than the 50% in the 2020 election won by President Joe Biden, a Catholic.

The Trump-Francis collision course on migration stems from 2016, when Francis famously said anyone who builds a wall rather than a bridge to keep out migrants was “not a Christian.” He made the comment after celebrating Mass at the U.S.-Mexico border during the U.S. presidential campaign when Trump promised to build a wall along the frontier.

But migration is not the only area of conflict in U.S.-Vatican relations.

On Monday, the Vatican's main charity Caritas International warned that millions of people could die as a result of the “ruthless” U.S. decision to “recklessly” stop USAID funding. Caritas asked governments to urgently call on the U.S. administration to reverse course.

Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.

Follow AP’s global migration coverage at: https://apnews.com/hub/migration

Pope Francis presides over a mass for the jubilee of the armed forces in St. Peter's Square at The Vatican, Sunday Feb.9, 2025. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

Pope Francis presides over a mass for the jubilee of the armed forces in St. Peter's Square at The Vatican, Sunday Feb.9, 2025. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

Pope Francis touches his eyes as he presides over a mass for the jubilee of the armed forces in St. Peter's Square at The Vatican, Sunday Feb.9, 2025. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

Pope Francis touches his eyes as he presides over a mass for the jubilee of the armed forces in St. Peter's Square at The Vatican, Sunday Feb.9, 2025. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

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