[caption id="attachment_1870" align="alignright" width="200"] Sr. Gemma Doll, OP[/caption]
Too often I feel like a bystander – yes, a guilty bystander - as our neighbors get rounded up in the middle of the night or on their way to work, and hauled off to jail. Our neighbors and those praying with us in the pews have done nothing wrong in the eyes of God, except to nurture their children and contribute to society.
I remember Maribel, an Ohio mother of four who taught catechism and was a lector at Mass each Sunday. She was arrested on her way to work, denied the chance to even say goodbye to her children and husband. Like a dangerous criminal – or a shameful secret - she was hidden away, moved from jail to jail so that those who wished to help her could not find her.
Eventually she ended up in Louisiana, to be deported to a dangerous border town in Mexico and left - a vulnerable woman ripe for picking by drug mules and human traffickers.
What kind of a society are we? That we stand by and allow our archaic laws to be enforced so cruelly – what does that say about us?
Just listen. Listen to the cries of Maribel’s epileptic three-year old. Her cries cannot be stopped, because her mother is no more – no more at her side, no more comforting her, no more feeding her supper. She reaches out her arms – where is her mother?
Those cries are magnified across our country as a Priest faces being taken away from his parish, a dad in Michigan is torn from his family after 30 years in this country, and an young man who entered this nation as a pre-schooler faces deportation after tirelessly working to save his community after Hurricane Harvey.
God strengthen us to speak and act for Dreamers, refugees, and immigrants. What happens to our neighbors affects us, and changes our families and communities as well. Without action by Congress and the Administration, more than 1,700 immigrants will lose their DACA protections each day between March 5 and November 5. Each of those people bring immeasurable value to our nation, our community and our Church. It is our duty to stand with them.
Help us to generously pay the price to advocate for and protect those whose very lives are in danger. We stand for their right to life. Please call, write and email your Congressional representatives and demand that they support bi-partisan legislation to protect the Dreamers.
Call 1-866-940-2439. You can call three times to reach your 1 1 Representative and 2 Senators
Sample Script: I’m [your name]. I’m your constituent from [City, State]. As a person of faith, I support Dreamers. I strongly oppose President’s Trump’s decision to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. DACA has provided nearly 800,000 immigrant youth the opportunity to work, raise a family, and pursue their dreams. Congress must do everything in its power to protect immigrant youth - I am calling to urge the [Senator/Representative] to support a clean passage of the Dream Act of 2017 (S.1615 / H.R.3440). Can I count on the [Senator’s/Representative’s support? Thank you!
You can also click here.
Sr. Gemma Doll, OP[/caption]
Too often I feel like a bystander – yes, a guilty bystander - as our neighbors get rounded up in the middle of the night or on their way to work, and hauled off to jail. Our neighbors and those praying with us in the pews have done nothing wrong in the eyes of God, except to nurture their children and contribute to society.
I remember Maribel, an Ohio mother of four who taught catechism and was a lector at Mass each Sunday. She was arrested on her way to work, denied the chance to even say goodbye to her children and husband. Like a dangerous criminal – or a shameful secret - she was hidden away, moved from jail to jail so that those who wished to help her could not find her.
Eventually she ended up in Louisiana, to be deported to a dangerous border town in Mexico and left - a vulnerable woman ripe for picking by drug mules and human traffickers.
What kind of a society are we? That we stand by and allow our archaic laws to be enforced so cruelly – what does that say about us?
Just listen. Listen to the cries of Maribel’s epileptic three-year old. Her cries cannot be stopped, because her mother is no more – no more at her side, no more comforting her, no more feeding her supper. She reaches out her arms – where is her mother?
Those cries are magnified across our country as a Priest faces being taken away from his parish, a dad in Michigan is torn from his family after 30 years in this country, and an young man who entered this nation as a pre-schooler faces deportation after tirelessly working to save his community after Hurricane Harvey.
God strengthen us to speak and act for Dreamers, refugees, and immigrants. What happens to our neighbors affects us, and changes our families and communities as well. Without action by Congress and the Administration, more than 1,700 immigrants will lose their DACA protections each day between March 5 and November 5. Each of those people bring immeasurable value to our nation, our community and our Church. It is our duty to stand with them.
Help us to generously pay the price to advocate for and protect those whose very lives are in danger. We stand for their right to life. Please call, write and email your Congressional representatives and demand that they support bi-partisan legislation to protect the Dreamers.
Call 1-866-940-2439. You can call three times to reach your 1 1 Representative and 2 Senators
Sample Script: I’m [your name]. I’m your constituent from [City, State]. As a person of faith, I support Dreamers. I strongly oppose President’s Trump’s decision to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. DACA has provided nearly 800,000 immigrant youth the opportunity to work, raise a family, and pursue their dreams. Congress must do everything in its power to protect immigrant youth - I am calling to urge the [Senator/Representative] to support a clean passage of the Dream Act of 2017 (S.1615 / H.R.3440). Can I count on the [Senator’s/Representative’s support? Thank you!
You can also click here. 