Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA)

We ask you to engage with your elected officials to voice your support for these young people and call on your members of Congress to find a bipartisan legislative solution to protect Dreamers. In doing so, please urge them to:

• Find a Bipartisan Solution to Protect Dreamers. The approximately 1.8 million Dreamers living in our country were brought to the United States as young people. They worship with us in our churches and synagogues, serve in our military, contribute to our economy, and add their many talents to American society.

• Provide a Path to Citizenship. Dreamers know America as their only home and should not be denied the opportunity to obtain U.S. citizenship and participate fully in civic life.

• Recognize the Sanctity of Families. Family immigration is the foundation of our country and of our Church. Pope Francis states, “the family unit, the family is the foundation of co-existence and a remedy against social fragmentation.” We steadfastly know that families are what holds America together. We ask you to reject legislation that threatens family-based immigration.

• Recognize the Right of Nations to Control Their Borders. While Catholic social teaching on migration recognizes and respects the sovereignty of each nation to regulate its borders, this right must be balanced with the right of vulnerable migrants, such as asylum seekers and victims of human trafficking, to access protection. Border security should be proportional and justly implemented.

• Maintain Protections for Unaccompanied Children. A solution for Dreamers cannot be at the expense of other immigrant children. Such a tradeoff would be heartless and untenable. We ask that you maintain existing protections for unaccompanied children which help prevent trafficking and abuse and ensure their access to adequate care.