Pass DACA
On Sept. 5, President Trump rescinded Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), which put nearly 800,000 young people who were brought to the United States as children at risk of job loss and deportation. He put the responsibility on Congress to pass a replacement bill before he begins phasing out DACA protections in March 2018. We are now half way to his deadline and Congress has yet to move forward with a replacement bill.
As a Sister of the Holy Names, a Catholic educator and a person of faith, I find this situation immoral and inhumane. My faith compels me to love my neighbor as myself – even if that neighbor is an alien (Lv. 19:33-34 and Dt. 24: 19-22); to welcome the stranger (Mt. 25: 34-35).
For those looking primarily at the bottom line, passing a clean Dream Act makes sense. It has been said that if the bill is not passed, it would negatively impact over 17,500 DACA recipients currently residing in Washington state and would cost our state’s GDP over $1 billion annually. Join me in urging our congressional representatives to pass a clean replacement bill to DACA by the end of 2017.
Catherine Ferguson
Spokane