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WASHINGTON (CNS) — After the
Senate failed Feb. 15 to garner the 60 votes needed to move a bill forward to
protect the “Dreamers,” officials of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops announced
a “National Catholic Call-In Day to Protect Dreamers” Feb. 26.
“We are deeply disappointed that
the Senate was not able to come together in a bipartisan manner to secure
legislative protection for the Dreamers,” the USCCB officials said in a joint
statement Feb. 19.
“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.
The joint statement was issued by
Cardinal Daniel N. DiNardo of Galveston-Houston, USCCB president; Archbishop
Jose H. Gomez of Los Angeles, USCCB vice president; and Bishop Joe S. Vasquez
of Austin, Texas, chairman of the USCCB Committee on Migration.
“We are also announcing a
National Catholic Call-In Day to Protect Dreamers,” the three prelates said.
They asked U.S. Catholics “to call their members of Congress next Monday, Feb.
26, 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.”
They added: “Our faith compels
us to stand with the vulnerable, including our immigrant brothers and sisters. We
have done so continually, but we must show our support and solidarity now in a
special way. Now is the time for action.”
By day’s end Feb. 15, members of
the U.S. Senate had rejected four immigration proposals, leaving it unclear how
lawmakers will address overall immigration reform and keep the Deferred Action
for Childhood Arrivals program in place.
Needing 60 votes for Senate
passage, a bipartisan measure that included a path to citizenship for an
estimated 1.8 million Dreamers — those eligible for DACA — and $25 billion
for a border wall failed by six votes. The final vote was 54-45. A bill the
Trump administration was supporting was defeated 39 to 60. Two other bills also
failed.
The U.S. House was pressing on
with its own bill, which by mid-day Feb. 16 was not yet up for a floor vote.
Described as “hard line” by opponents, it includes keeping DACA in
place, funding a border wall, ending the Diversity Immigrant Visa program,
limiting family-based visas, requiring employers to verify job applicants’
immigration status and withholding federal grants from so-called
“sanctuary” cities.
The U.S. House and Senate will
be in recess for a week following the Presidents Day holiday.
The bishops and countless other immigration advocates have urged members of Congress to preserve DACA and protect the programs beneficiaries by passing the
Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors Act, or DREAM Act, which has
long been proposed. The bill is what gives DACA recipients the
“Dreamer” name.
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