Tuesday, March 20, 2018, the Daughters of Charity of St. Vincent De Paul, USA, joined an amicus brief (friend-of-the court) submitted to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the ninth District supporting a lawsuit filed by a coalition of 199 religiously affiliated organizations challenging President Trump’s attempt to rescind the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. Amici include congregations and houses of worship representing a wide array of faiths and denominations as well as professional, civil liberties, and immigrant rights groups who work with or represent faith communities. The decision to end DACA has left the lives of 800,000 undocumented immigrants who were brought to the United States as children in limbo.
The brief, filed by Patterson Belknap Webb & Tyler, LLP and the Muslim Bar Association of New York, argues that the revocation of DACA protections will result in irreversible harm not only to the 800,000 recipients and their families — but also to our country’s educational institutions, businesses, economy, military, and diverse communities.
Sister Julie Cutter, D.C., co-chair of the Daughters’ Social Justice Committee states, “Termination of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program is an immoral act that violates our Catholic call to welcome the stranger and diminishes our ability to carry out our mission of service to those on the margins of society. The Daughters of Charity have befriended Dreamers and their families. They teach in our Catholic schools. They nurse in our Catholic hospitals. They provide social services to their neighbors. They add breadth to our church activities and share in our communion. Simply put, their presence creates stronger, healthier communities.”
Pope Francis instructs the faithful, we “cannot remain silent in the face of the suffering of millions of people whose dignity is wounded, nor can we continue to move forward as if the spread of poverty and injustice has no cause.” If the termination of the DACA program is upheld, we know this injustice will result in the destruction of the family unit, the diminishment of community safety, and the degeneration of our national honor. The Daughters of Charity could not remain silent in the face of this injustice. We stand up today, and always, with our brothers and sisters of faith, to demand compassion and justice for Dreamers who are threatened with merciless exclusion.