Texas Catholic bishops respond to court’s decision on status of DACA recipients in Texas

AUSTIN – With the decision earlier this year by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in Texas v. United States, which is likely to impact the lawful presence of people in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program residing in Texas (and not any other state), the Catholic bishops of Texas have issued the following statement:

A federal court decision is imminently expected to change nearly 90,000 Texans’ presence in our country from lawful to unlawful. This decision will impact virtually every community in Texas by removing the lawful presence for DACA recipients who live in Texas. We, the Catholic bishops of Texas, firmly resolve to respond with compassion and a call for justice for those who, through no fault of their own, are now being forced to abandon their homes, their livelihood and their communities.

This action further undermines each of these persons’ basic human right to seek work and to support a family. It is contrary to the facts to claim that our state is harmed by DACA recipients lawfully working here. Instead, this kind of unprecedented and disruptive action by our government will harm our communities by fomenting fear, severing relationships, disrupting business and removing some of the most upstanding individuals from our community.

The present distress in our country regarding immigration is the result of decades of unwillingness on all sides to enact reasonable and meaningful immigration reform, reform which respects both national security needs and the human right of each person to work and raise a family in peace.

We will continue to work with people of goodwill to encourage compassionate outreach to those in dire predicaments and a humane reform of our terribly broken immigration system.

As we begin considering the anticipated implications of this ruling on our communities, including fear and familial estrangement, we respectfully remind federal and state authorities of the importance of proper training and supervision for ICE agents. No violent actions should ever be taken or justified to harm law enforcement officials or their families. The human dignity of law enforcement officers themselves is violated when they are expected to consider brutal and inhumane methods to enforce these decisions.

The unreasonableness and impending implementation of the Fifth Circuit’s ruling, targeting law-abiding people working and living in Texas, places a terrible burden on our communities. We are pastors of ICE agents and DACA recipients, undocumented persons and families whose security is threatened. This decision will only exacerbate fear and distrust, pit community members against one another, and cause significant economic disruption for many communities.

We want to say unequivocably to all our immigrant sisters and brothers, and in a particular way to those who arrived as children: We have heard your cries. We are with you in these difficult days.

May God, who hears the cry of the poor, move all of us to bring his mercy and justice to our country.

For more information on the current status of DACA in relation to Texas v. United States, see usccb.org/DACAupdate or for Spanish, usccb.org/actualizacionDACA.