News sources are reporting that the President is seriously considering terminating the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program before September 5-and possibly as early as TODAY or TOMORROW! Such action would have horrific consequences for the nearly 800,000 young adult immigrant leaders who have benefited by the DACA program’s granting of temporary legal status to pursue higher education, hold jobs, and help their families. Most DACA recipients have lived most of their lives in the U.S. Many are faithful leaders in our Disciples churches, and are expressing great fears in this time for themselves, and for their families, who would face immediate risk of deportation if DACA is ended.
Likewise, our Haitian, Salvadoran, Honduran, and other Disciples who are among the ten country populations receiving “Temporary Protected Status” (TPS) are experiencing great anxiety amid reports of the possible ending of their humanitarian status, as well. TPS offers a time-limited oppor tunity for individuals to work and live legally in the U.S. to support their families and send remittances to their homelands. To qualify for TPS, persons must be nationals of designated countries to which they are unable to return due to ongoing armed conflict, environmental disaster, or other extraordinary and temporary conditions. Nearly 300,000 individuals in the U.S. c urrently hold TPS status. Our own Disciples Pastor Philius Nicholas from N.Y. is currently in Haiti to gather evidence supporting WHY the administration’s desired ending of TPS for 50,000 Haitians in January would be catastrophic for Haiti at this time.
Refugee and Immigration Ministries has developed an action plan that is easy to use and has lots of options available. Disciple Ways To Support DACA and TPS
