--- 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: 2026-02-23T17:19:41.052Z 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=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 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=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Steve Bannon: Bishops Support the Undocumented So They Can Fill Pews  by [Alana Abramson](/author/alana-abramson/)  ## Alana Abramson Sep 7, 2017 2:31 PM CUT  White House Chief Strategist Steve Bannon attends a ceremony in the Rose Garden where Associate Justice Neil Gorsuch was administered the judicial oath at the White House April 10, 2017 in Washington, DC. White House Chief Strategist Steve Bannon attends a ceremony in the Rose Garden where Associate Justice Neil Gorsuch was administered the judicial oath at the White House April 10, 2017 in Washington, DC.Chip Somodevilla—Getty Images  by [Alana Abramson](/author/alana-abramson/)  ## Alana Abramson Sep 7, 2017 2:31 PM CUT 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/ "undefined") 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 "undefined"). 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 "undefined") 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/ "undefined")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.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4931496/steve-bannon-daca-catholic-church-60-minutes/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4931496/steve-bannon-daca-catholic-church-60-minutes/"},"headline":"Steve Bannon: Bishops Support the Undocumented So They Can Fill Pews","datePublished":"2017-09-07T14:31:49.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T17:19:41.052Z","description":"\"It's obvious on the face of it\"","url":"https://time.com/4931496/steve-bannon-daca-catholic-church-60-minutes/","keywords":["faith","Immigration","Donald Trump","DACA","onetime","steve bannon","dreamers"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte1b648749d0ac3f9/6988da5cab6d77b2686af769/steve-bannon-breitbar.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Alana Abramson","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/alana-abramson/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte1b648749d0ac3f9/6988da5cab6d77b2686af769/steve-bannon-breitbar.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Neil Gorsuch Is Sworn In As Associate Justice To Supreme Court","caption":"Neil Gorsuch Is Sworn In As Associate Justice To Supreme Court","creditText":"Chip Somodevilla—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/faith/","name":"faith"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4931496/steve-bannon-daca-catholic-church-60-minutes/","name":"Steve Bannon: Bishops Support the Undocumented So They Can Fill Pews"}}]}] ```