Bannon: Catholic Bishops support DACA because “they need illegal aliens to fill the churches”

Former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon slammed the Catholic Church for condemning President Donald Trump’s decision to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, saying in a recorded interview for CBS’s 60 Minutes, “They need illegal aliens to fill the churches.”

In an excerpt from his interview, airing this Sunday, Bannon told Charlie Rose, “The bishops have been terrible about this. By the way, you know why? You know why? Because unable to really — to — to — to come to grips with the problems in the church, they need illegal aliens, they need illegal aliens to fill the churches.”

Bannon, currently the executive chairman of Breitbart News and a practicing Catholic, then went on to accuse the Catholic Church of needing illegal immigrants for economic support. “They have — they have an economic interest. They have an economic interest in unlimited immigration, unlimited illegal immigration,” he said.

The DACA program, which the Trump administration has begun sunsetting over the next six months, provided work permits and protection from deportation for 800,000 unauthorized immigrants who were brought to the US by their parents as children.

Following Tuesday’s announcement that the White House would be ending the program, the US Conference of Catholic Bishops released a statement criticizing the decision. “The cancellation of the DACA program is reprehensible. It causes unnecessary fear for DACA youth and their families. These youth entered the U.S. as minors and often know America as their only home ... This decision is unacceptable and does not reflect who we are as Americans.”