By Phil Lawler, Catholic Culture - The bishops themselves do not carry out the terms of federal contracts, of course. The hired staff at the USCCB does the day-to-day work. Like any other government contractors, those staff members have a vested interest in continuing their employment, expanding their responsibilities, emphasizing the importance of what they do, and lobbying the government to increase their funding. If the contracts are not renewed, the bishops face an unpleasant choice between laying off the employees or digging into an already strained budget to find new ways to pay them. So the USCCB has a strong institutional incentive to endorse federal programs that increase immigration.