Archbishop Listecki Responds to DACA Decision

Last January, Pope Francis addressed the world with these words: “Among migrants, children constitute the most vulnerable group, because as they face the life ahead of them, they are invisible and voiceless: their precarious situation deprives them of documentation, hiding them from the world’s eyes; the absence of adults to accompany them prevents their voices from being raised and heard. In this way, migrant children easily end up at the lowest levels of human degradation, where illegality and violence destroy the future of too many innocents, while the network of child abuse is difficult to break up” (World Day of Migrants 2017). I am saddened to see our nation joining in the unjust treatment of thousands of young men and women when Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced the Trump administration is “rescinding” the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, program that protects hundreds of thousands of immigrants who came to the U.S. illegally as young children. This decision will bring frustration to many young people who dream with truly making our country great again; they play in our schools; they pray in our churches with us; they walk in our malls; they enjoy a good football game or a Sunday cookout with us; and they also dream with us in an America where justice and peace are our flag.

We offer our support to all those affected by this decision, and urge the members of Congress to act immediately in defense of human rights and the “invisible and voiceless” among us. I trust that our constant prayers and ongoing dialogue will bring us to a better time, when these young men and women could finally come out of the shadows; a time when our lawmakers come together to protect human dignity and justice; we pledge to work with legislators to fashion a law that promotes justice for all.

In Christ,

The Most Reverend Jerome E. Listecki
Archbishop of Milwaukee