By Emily Drooby
“Appeal the case, number one, but number two, we’re going to make sure that a number of my Republican colleagues say they support the right of Dreamers to come,” said President Joe Biden.
He was explaining his plan of attack, fighting for the deferred action for childhood arrivals policy – also known as DACA.
The program delays deportation to undocumented immigrants who were brought to the U.S. as kids. Also known as dreamers.
Biden: “Your mommy or your dad says, I’m going to take you across the Rio Grande and we’re going to illegally going to go into the United States. What are you supposed to say no it’s against the law? I’m no I’m being, I’m being deadly earnest. What could the kids say? What could they do?”
On Thursday, Vice President Kamala Harris met with dreamers to further discuss the issues.
There are 600,000 active recipients in the country – 26,000 of them in New York and 1.8 million who are DACA-eligible.
Last Friday, a federal judge out of Texas found DACA to be unlawful, blocking the Biden Administration from approving new applications into the program.
It’s the most recent battle in a long war against the program.
Catholic leaders joining the fight for immigration reform.
The USCCB writing, “As a Church, we recognize the inherent, God-given dignity of every human person, regardless of immigration status. Therefore, we will continue to call for comprehensive immigration reform that preserves family unity, honors due process, respects the rule of law, recognizes the contributions of foreign-born workers, defends the vulnerable, and addresses the root causes of migration, consistent with the common good.”
Cardinal Wilton Gregory of the Archdiocese of Washington doubling down on that statement during a press conference Wednesday.
He said, “When the loss of these rights, forces individuals to migrate to other lands, we must welcome them, protect them, and generously share our abundance with them.”
“That vicious, brutal court decision on DACA I was furious, I was frustrated, another slap in the face,” said New York senator and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer.
While joining Cardinal Gregory to fight for Dreamers, he added, “We are going to do everything we can to provide a pathway to citizenship for the dreamers and many others.”