“We certainly have received hateful, hateful calls from people who say they are Catholics and speaking to us in language that I would never repeat and threatening our agencies,” said Sister Donna Markham, OP, the CEO of Catholic Charities USA. “It’s a very sad situation.”

The threats followed a lawsuit against the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Health and Human Services. The plaintiffs, Judicial Watch and CatholicVote Civic Action, allege that the federal agencies ignored Freedom of Information Act requests for records of communications with the Diocese of Brownsville (TX), Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley, and the Humanitarian Respite Center in McAllen, TX.