By Catholics for Catholics
General Mike Flynn and Bishop Strickland were part of the January 22, 2026 ceremony in Washington, D.C. at which border czar Tom Homan, a fellow Catholic, was bestowed with the Protector of America Award by Catholics For Catholics for his effort in rescuing more 62,000 missing children – a number which has now been updated to 129,000.
Bishop Strickland, “America’s bishop,” who has been critical of the chaos of illegal immigration in the United States, opened the ceremony with a prayer, and then John Yep, President of Catholics For Catholics, took to the podium.
Yep said that every nation and society is judged by how they treat their most vulnerable citizens.
During Biden’s presidency, Yep said, “we witnessed the largest open border invasion in the history of the world. At least 13 million people came across undocumented through an intentional invasion done by the Biden administration with the help and reliance on NGOs, many of them religious NGOs.” Lawlessness and chaos descended upon cities and small towns alike.
But the ones who suffered the most, according to Yep, “were those children who were brought across, became lost, were used for nefarious purposes and lost in trafficking, in child labor and other horrible realities.”
Yep recognized that our country needed serious change. “We, the American people, worked our tails off. We got Donald Trump elected last year. As a Catholic, I’m proud to say that our group helped achieve the largest Catholic vote landslide in US history with President Trump. We sent President Trump with a mandate to restore order to our country.” In trying to fulfill that mandate, President Trump selected Tom Homan to lead the efforts to secure the border and restore law and order within the interior of the nation.
🚨JUST IN: Catholics for Catholics @CforCatholics presents "Protector of America" Award to courageous U.S. Border Czar Tom Homan.
— Catholics for Catholics 🇺🇲 (@CforCatholics) January 22, 2026
"I am proud to be Catholic!" Tom Homan reaffirmed his love for his Catholic faith as hundreds of Catholic leaders gathered in Washington D.C. to… pic.twitter.com/EWY7wcSyNj
Catholics For Catholics then presented a video that played clip after clip of the lawlessness that resulted from the insecure border. The video featured sound bytes from Catholic leaders like Bishop Strickland and Fr. Mike Schmitz, who emphasized that sovereign nations have a sovereign right to protect their borders. The video also included the EWTN headline that most Catholics in America support the president’s immigration policy.
At the close of the video, Yep introduce General Mike Flynn who struck at the heart of the matter almost instantly: he called it “pure evil” that 300,000 children, who horrifically can be “used” over and over again by the cartels, were allowed to be smuggled into the country and then go missing. Flynn stated outright that Alejandro Mayorkas, the former head of the Department of Homeland Security, should be in jail. That statement was received with fervent support from the audience.
Gen. Flynn bemoaned that the industry that abuses children in the United States is worth a trillion dollars, and that it’s not just the gang members on the streets that benefit – it’s high-up executives in corporate boardrooms in major American cities that reap the financial rewards.
The moral depravity in our nation is evident. When historians look at the rise and fall of great empires, there are distinct periods of complacency, apathy, and obedience – slavery – before society finally undergoes a spiritual awakening. America, he said, is somewhere between complacency and apathy. But that spiritual awakening is “how a society comes out of slavery.”
“An enslaved society will rise up, and they will rise up because of a spiritual awakening,” remarked Gen. Flynn. He commented that Charlie Kirk was a martyr and “part of that spiritual awakening.”
In his parting words, Gen. Flynn implored everyone to figure out in what way they are being called to serve our country and society.
Regrettably, Mr. Homan had been called to the White House for an emergency situation, so Gen. Flynn could not present the Protector of America Award in person, but he was able to place a phone call into the event. Before he called in, a representative from the White House Faith Office read a prepared statement.
Mr. Homan dedicated the award to the law enforcement officers and staff that have worked “tirelessly to run down hundreds of thousands of leads, work numerous investigations, and locate more than 129,000 unaccompanied alien children of the more than 300,000 children that the Biden administration turned over to unvetted sponsors, lost track of and weren’t looking for.”
“Every child is precious to the Lord. And this administration will undertake whatever efforts necessary to safeguard this population, the most vulnerable among us,” the statement read.
A phone call was then placed, and when Mr. Homan said, “Good morning” on speaker, the entire room erupted in applause.
Homan expressed his gratitude for the Catholic leaders that were gathered at the ceremony and declared, “I am proud to be Catholic.” He asked that everyone keep their current efforts to restore law and order and of course, the children, in their prayers.
Bishop Strickland then took to the podium for more reflection. “Tom Homan would be the first to say, ‘remember the children.’”
“What we’re doing this morning,” Bishop Strickland said, “is celebrating one man and the people, the good men and women working with Tom Homan doing their work, sacrificing their
lives, sometimes literally putting themselves in danger for the children.”
Bishop Strickland admitted that even leaders in the Catholic Church “have turned a blind eye” to the border issues. He encouraged everyone to visit PillarsOfFaith.net, which will soon feature a letter he wrote regarding the border issue.
In closing, Bishop Strickland implored everyone to pray the rosary daily: “That is our strongest hope.” He asked that we all pray for the shepherds from Rome to the USCCB to truly have “shepherds’ hearts.” He prayed,
Almighty God, we turn to you with humble hearts,
overwhelmed at times by the evil and the darkness that pervades our world.
Strengthen us, Lord, in your son, in His light,
to know that the darkness did not, cannot, and will not overcome
the light of the world, Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Strengthen us, Lord, in your Holy Spirit to go into service in whatever ways we
can, to speak up for life to honor You as the Author of life,
to pray for shepherds’ hearts that are too caught up in this world.
That these shepherds’ hearts might be reminded that the church exists for the salvation
of souls. And that demand means every life is precious from conception to natural death.
Catholics For Catholics had extended an invitation to a number of bishops in the United States, including all of those serving on the USCCB’s Committee on Migration, to attend the event in hopes of fostering a productive dialogue surrounding immigration policy. No response was received.
Though it was a private ceremony, many patriotic Catholic patriot citizens were in attendance in addition to the media.
Catholics For Catholics seeks to bolster and back the Catholic warriors that are on the front lines of our culture, pushing back against evil and seeking to live out the fullness of their faith in public. This event honoring Tom Homan, who has spoken strongly to Catholic media about the exploitation of the vulnerable which is a direct result of an insecure border, was an important way to recognize the good fight of Catholics in public service.
The entire ceremony can be watched here.
