From November 2019 until Spring 2020, while the U.S. Supreme Court deliberates, it is vital that we encourage Congress to act to provide DACA recipients with a path to citizenship. As the House passed H.R. 6 which includes a path to citizenship for DACA recipients, we ask that you turn your attention to your Senators and urge them to stand in support of young adult immigrants by supporting legislative protection for DACA recipients generally and the Dream Act of 2019, S. 874, specifically.
Background
H.R. 6 would provide critical permanent legal protection to DACA recipients, TPS and DED holders who are living in a state of uncertainty and fear. The USCCB’s Committee on Migration Chairman, Bishop Joe S. Vásquez of Austin, Texas, has voiced support for the bill numerous times: issuing a March 15, 2019 statement endorsing H.R. 6, sending a letter to each Member of the U.S. House of Representatives in support of the bill, and endorsing individual component bills of H.R. 6 prior to markup in the House Judiciary Committee on May 22, 2019.
ACTION
While the House passed its version of the Dream Act, we ask you to stand in solidarity with immigrants and their families by sending a message to your Senators and request that they support S.874, the Dream Act of 2019.
TAKE ACTION NOW and send the following message at https://www.votervoice.net/JFI/Campaigns/69508/Respond! (NOTE: You do not need to be Roman Catholic to respond, and the message can be edited to reflect your faith tradition.)
Dear Senator,
As a person of faith, I stand with the U.S. Catholic Bishops and write to express my strong support for the “Dream Act of 2019” (S. 874). The young people protected by this bill are contributors to our economy, veterans of our military, academic standouts in our universities, and leaders in our parishes and communities. As Catholics, we have long supported DREAMERS as we believe in protecting the dignity of every human being, especially that of our children. Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) is a program that has benefited over 800,000 young people by ensuring that recipients are able to live their lives free of the anxiety that they could be deported at any time to a country they do not know and separated from their families.
I urge you to:
• Support and co-sponsor S. 874, the Dream Act of 2019; and
• Continue to work towards larger legislative reform of our immigration laws.
Catholics stand with you in support of the DREAM Act of 2019, S. 874.
Thank you.
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