Dreamers are undocumented migrants who arrived in the US as children.

Bishop Joe Vásquez says the US Catholic Bishops conference supports the bipartisan "Uniting and Securing America" (USA) Act of 2018 as it is currently written.

Vásquez chairs the conference's Committee on Migration.

The Act offers Dreamers with protection from deportation and a path to citizenship.

It also increases border security technology at the US/Mexico border.

There are various ways it achieves this.

New technology is one way. The Act also makes it possible to increase the number of immigration judges and Board of Immigration Appeals staff attorneys, and seeks to address root causes and prevent future irregular migration from Central America.

"We are hopeful our support of the current version of the USA Act, and our continued support of the Dream Act, will encourage Congress to act now and find a humane legislative solution for Dreamers," Vásquez says.

"Every day, my brother bishops and I witness directly the constant anxiety of Dreamer youth and their families, and that experience of urgency moves us to press Congress for an immediate and durable solution to this problem."

Vásquez's announcement followed a Federal Judge's statement that the Trump administration's decision to terminate the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals programme was based on the "virtually unexplained" grounds that it was "unlawful."

The programme protects Dreamers from deportation and allows them to work.

The judge stayed his decision for 90 days.

He has given the Department of Homeland Security the opportunity to better explain its reasoning for canceling the programme.

If the Department fails to offer a rationale, the judge will tell them to begin accepting and processing new applications. They will also have to renew applications for current DACA recipients.

Source

• Ignatian Solidarity
• Zenit
• Image: Ignatian Solidarity Network

They were calling on lawmakers to support bipartisan immigration legislation that makes permanent protections available to Dreamers.

About 1.8 million Dreamers stand to lose the protection offered by the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) programme.

Many protesters said they had no option but to participate in the act of civil disobedience and speak out against the failure of Congress and the Trump administration to help the Dreamers.

"I have never been arrested in my life, but with the blessing of my community, I am joining with two dozen other Catholic sisters and Catholic allies to risk arrest today as an act of solidarity ... " Dominican Sister Elise Garcia said.

"To our leaders in Congress and in the White House, I say 'arrest a nun, not a Dreamer.'"

Jesuit Father Thomas Reese said: "They [Dreamers] are our students, sitting in our classrooms, they are our parishioners, kneeling in our churches.

"They are our friends, they are our colleagues who have invited us into their homes.

"It is time for the people who work in that [the Capitol] building to realise this is a moral issue. It is a justice issue, and the political gamesmanship must stop."

Mercy Sister JoAnn Persch, who was one of eight Mercy sisters arrested, said frustration led her to be part of the protest.

"My prayer, my work for comprehensive immigration reform has had no impact on this administration," she said.

"I stand with Dreamers now at this moment of truth, which to me is a moral issue.

"When these traditional strategies we have used have no impact, we have to move to action that could involve taking a risk to disrupt this unjust system in some way."

Many of those who risked arrest, joined hands, singing hymns and praying.

Bishop Stowe said: "We stand with the Dreamers, we are one with the Dreamers. And now I ask God's blessing upon those who are acting in civil disobedience, part of a long-standing tradition of not supporting unjust laws."

Shortly after, they were arrested, handcuffed and led away, some praying, some singing.

They were charged with disorderly conduct, crowding, incommoding and obstruction.

They were all released by late Tuesday afternoon.

Source

• Think Progress
• Catholic News Service
• Catholic News Agency
• Image: Sight Magazine

Right now, they are facing deportation.

The Catholic church in the US has issued an urgent call to action to help Dreamers (young immigrants brought illegally to the country as children).

While they are currently shielded from deportation under an Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) programme, this is about to change.

DACA allowed some individuals who entered the country as minors, and had either entered or remained in the country illegally, to receive a renewable two-year period of deferred action from deportation and to be eligible for a work permit.

The protection DACA offers is about to change.

President Trump ordered an end to DACA last September. He gave Congress until 5 March to deal with the fate of DACA recipients.

The Senate's failure last week to get the 60 votes needed to move a bill forward to protect Dreamers is affecting about 700,000 immigrants.

The precarious position the Dreamers may find themselves in has spurred Church leaders from across the US to ask Catholics to contact members of Congress next Monday.

Dubbing Monday 26 February as a "National Catholic Call-In Day to Protect Dreamers," the bishops want Catholics to ask Congress members "to protect Dreamers from deportation, to provide them a path to citizenship, and to avoid any damage to existing protections for families and unaccompanied minors in the process."

"With the March 5th deadline looming, we ask once again that members of Congress show the leadership necessary to find a just and humane solution for these young people, who daily face mounting anxiety and uncertainty," they said.

Source

• Houston Chronicle
• The Catholic Register
• Image: La Prensa Peru