daca-letter

 

The following letter will be sent to the members of the U.S. Congress who graduated from Catholic colleges and universities in response to the recent passage of an amendment to H.R. 240 that would revoke the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.

Dear Members of Congress who Graduated from a Catholic University:

We, students and alumni of Catholic colleges and universities across the United States, would like to express our concern with the latest legislation to cut funding of Department of Homeland Security. We share with you a common experience of Catholic higher education, which has challenged each of us to be people of service to our communities, our country, and our world.

What we do not share with you, however, is the luxury you had to reside, go to school, and work in the country you considered home without the constant fear of deportation. Each one of us is undocumented and currently benefits from the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. The DACA program has given us hope, allowing us to study at Catholic colleges and universities, and an opportunity to contribute to the country that we call home. For those of us who have graduated, we are now better prepared to actively engage in our communities and add to our country’s economy.

On January 14, 2014, Speaker Boehner said “there is simply no alternative” to cut funding of the Department of Homeland Security. We would like for you to recognize that our family had “simply no other alternative” as well, when they courageously took a leap of faith to bring us to the United States for our survival. As adults we seek nothing but the chance to contribute to the country that we have called home for most of our lives.

We ask you, as a fellow alumnus of a Catholic higher education institution, to refrain from taking legislative actions that fail to recognize our humanity. There is an alternative. Enable us, successful students and valued members of the United States workforce, with the opportunity to continue to serve our community, country, and the world as we have been taught to do so by our Catholic education.

 

All undocumented Catholic university students and alumni are welcome to sign-on to this letter by e-mailing Jacqueline Wyman at [email protected] with your FULL NAME, NAME OF YOUR CATHOLIC COLLEGE OR UNIVERSITY, and GRADUATION YEAR or INTENDED YEAR OF GRADUATION.  The deadline to sign is Thursday, February 5th.