This page was last updated on September 18, 2017.
Sisters of St. Joseph oppose end of DACA; Mary Pellegrino (MP), Leadership Team, Sisters of St. Joseph of Baden; Beaver County Times; September 7, 2017. Cosigners were Sisters Diane Cauley, Sharon Costello, and Barbara Czyrnik.
In the interest of disclosure, I attended St. Titus grade school in Aliquippa during the 1950s and 1960s. The Sisters of St. Joseph operated St. Titus.
Previous letters from Sister Pellegrino are here, here, here and here. Previous letters from other Sisters of St. Joseph are here, here, here, and here.
Below is a detailed critique of the subject letter.
“As Catholic Sisters committed to loving and serving God and neighbor without distinction, we are deeply disturbed by President Trump’s decision to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, which provides stability and opportunity to 800,000 young people in our country.”
[RWC] Deferred Action for Parents of Americans (DAPA) is a companion of DACA. In summary, what DACA does for illegal alien children, DAPA does for their parents. That is, parents of DACA plus other kids also receive renewable legal status.
Twenty-six states took the feds to court and asked for an injunction to stop implementation of DAPA until the case was tried. The district court granted the injunction and an appeals court upheld the injunction. The Supreme Court split 4-4 which meant the appeals court ruling stayed in place.
“Ever mindful of the most vulnerable among us, we join Catholic leaders locally and nationally in pledging our prayers and support for DACA recipients and their families. Our Catholic faith calls us to ‘welcome the stranger’ and to protect the dignity of these young people who were brought to the United States as children.
“We pray for those fearing the impact of DACA’s end and we call on the moral and ethical courage of members of Congress to work together to pass the bipartisan DREAM Act of 2017 to prevent unnecessary deportation and family separation.”
[RWC] What is “unnecessary deportation?” If you’re here legally, you get to stay. If you’re not, you should be deported.
As for “family separation,” that’s on the parents, not us.
“‘Dreamers’ are students, laborers and members of the military who contribute to our society and our economy while pursuing education and training to support themselves and their families. Our schools, churches and communities are enhanced by their courage and resilience.”
[RWC] What about the “Dreamers” who aren’t little angels and don’t “contribute to our society and our economy?”
“As Sisters of St. Joseph, we have a long history of ministering to immigrants, refugees and migrants, most recently through the establishment of Casa San Jose, a Brookline-based community resource center for Latino immigrants.”
[RWC] What about non-Latino immigrants?
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