The Episcopal Church has long advocated for legislation that protects Dreamers and offers a pathway to citizenship. Through Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), a program that allows those brought to the U.S. as children to remain in the country without fear of deportation, nearly 800,000 Dreamers have come forward, passed background checks, and been granted permission to live and work legally in the U.S. Ending DACA in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic would be detrimental to the health and safety of families and communities around the country.
“At this time, the Dream Act is pending before the Congress of the United States,” said Presiding Bishop Michael B. Curry. “I’m asking you as Episcopalians, as people of good will and faith, to write and call members of Congress who represent you to support this Dream Act.”
For more than a decade, The Episcopal Church has called for a pathway to citizenship for immigrant young people. As the U.S. and other countries are continuing to grapple with the COVID-19 pandemic, so many are being called to work on the front lines, including Dreamers. It is more critical than ever for Congress to pass legislation to protect this vulnerable group working and living in the U.S. and to allow these members of our communities, many with U.S. citizen children and family members, to remain in the country without fear of deportation.
“As the prophet said in the Hebrew scriptures, ‘What does the lord require of you but to do justice, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.’ The Dream Act can actually help us to do that in our time,” said Presiding Bishop Michael B. Curry.
