--- title: Steve Bannon: Catholic Church Supports DACA to Fill Pews description: Bannon said that Catholic bishops in the United States only support the DACA program because its recipients fill the pews of their churches. canonical: https://time.com/4931496/steve-bannon-daca-catholic-church-60-minutes/ author: Alana Abramson article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-09-07T14:31:49.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-08T09:33:25.492Z article:section: Politics og:title: Bannon: Bishops Support Undocumented So They Can Fill Pews og:description: "They need illegal aliens to fill the churches." og:url: https://time.com/4931496/steve-bannon-daca-catholic-church-60-minutes/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte1b648749d0ac3f9/6988da5cab6d77b2686af769/steve-bannon-breitbar.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3000 og:image:height: 1688 og:image:alt: Neil Gorsuch Is Sworn In As Associate Justice To Supreme Court og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Bannon: Bishops Support Undocumented So They Can Fill Pews twitter:description: "They need illegal aliens to fill the churches." twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte1b648749d0ac3f9/6988da5cab6d77b2686af769/steve-bannon-breitbar.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Steve Bannon: Bishops Support the Undocumented So They Can Fill Pews > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=063b26db-3a27-4bb2-9d26-ac5f40a869f9&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: DACA Recipient Reflects On Hurricane Harvey And Immigration Status [Watch (HLS stream): DACA Recipient Reflects On Hurricane Harvey And Immigration Status](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/D3Bujic4.m3u8) (2:33)  _Published 2017-09-05. DACA Recipient Reflects On Hurricane Harvey And Immigration Status_  by [Alana Abramson](https://time.com/author/alana-abramson/)  ## Alana Abramson Sep 7, 2017 2:31 PM UTC DACA Recipient Reflects On Hurricane Harvey And Immigration Status  by [Alana Abramson](https://time.com/author/alana-abramson/)  ## Alana Abramson Sep 7, 2017 2:31 PM UTC Former White House strategist Steve Bannon argued that Catholic bishops in the United States only support undocumented immigrants because they need them to fill the pews. In an interview with CBS News’ Charlie Rose, Bannon, who is Catholic, criticized bishops’ support for recipients of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival program, which President Trump [recently moved](http://time.com/4927263/daca-dreamers-trump-sessions/) to end in six months. “They need illegal aliens,” Bannon, who is Catholic, told CBS News’ Charlie Rose. “They need illegal aliens to fill the churches. That’s—it’s obvious on the face of it.” A number of prominent bishops voiced their opposition to the Trump Administration’s move to end DACA. “To all Dreamers, please know that the Catholic Church loves you, welcomes you, and will fight to protect your rights and your dignity,” Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York w[wrote on Twitter](https://twitter.com/CardinalDolan/status/905176175219277824). Cardinal Daniel N. DiNardo of Galveston-Houston, president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, issued a statement on behalf of the conference [calling the decision “reprehensible.”](http://www.usccb.org/news/2017/17-157.cfm) The interview is Bannon’s first televised one since he [left the White House ](http://time.com/4906897/steve-bannon-leaving-white-house-donald-trump/)in August, following months of reported controversy with his West Wing colleagues. After he left the White House, Bannon resumed his position as Chairman of Breitbart News. However, he told Rose he and Trump are still on good terms, and he is prepared to fight for his legislative agenda. “I’m going to be his wing man outside for the entire time,” he said. “Our purpose is to support Donald Trump.” ## Transcript [00:00] [ MUSIC ] [00:02] To be honest I don't consider myself as American but I [00:05] don't consider myself Mexican either. One thing I know [00:08] for sure is I am an Houstonian. I lived here for 17 [00:12] years. I love my city, I love Houston Texas. What [00:16] happened after the hurricane, I realize that might [00:19] never heard we were extremely fortune. So I [00:25] decided to help to volunteer at the George R Brown [00:29] here in down town. And I did that for three days [00:32] working here when I was 10. I just remember my [00:36] grandmother taking me in a bus and she didn't even [00:40] tell me where we were heading. After like a day or two [00:43] we were here in Houston but I had no idea why. And [00:47] I didn't even know we were in America, in another [00:50] country. It was pretty overwhelming. Right now I have [00:54] [ UNKNOWN ], which was a great help. It was just [00:58] amazing cuz I had to pay my tuition out of pocket. [01:03] I'm here today to announce that the program Known as [01:06] Daca, that was effectuated under the Obama [01:09] administration, is being rescinded. I understand their [01:12] point, in a way, but they don't seem to understand our [01:15] point. We came as children, and so we had no [01:19] conscience of what was happening. And they tell us, [01:23] well now you have conscience, now go back, but it's [01:26] not that easy. Like me, my whole family is here. What [01:29] am I gonna do over there? Start from zero? An [01:33] immigrant's life is full of uncertainty. I hate to depend [01:37] on the government. I would like to depend just on my [01:40] actions, but it's devastating whenever you have to rely [01:43] so much on what the government says cause your [01:46] future depends on that in a way. So, it's just hard for [01:50] me. In a way, we are American as [01:54] well because most of us, the dreamers, we were [01:58] raised here. We were in the schools with your kids. We [02:01] know the Pledge. We know the National Anthem. We're [02:06] pretty much American. I know it's a A nation of laws, [02:09] but just remember that it's a nation of justice as well. [02:15] We deserve justice. I believe that we have earned our [02:18] right to be given a chance in this country. 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