The Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns joined in prayer and nonviolent civil disobedience at the U.S. Capitol on February 27, 2018, as part of the Catholic Day of Action with Dreamers. After the event, Gerry Lee, Director of the Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns, gave the following statement:
“It was a privilege to join well over one hundred faith-filled people at yesterday’s “Catholic Day of Action with Dreamers.” Catholic Sisters, Priests, Brothers, and Lay people, both young and old, and of every race came to the U.S. Capitol from across the country to stand in solidarity with Dreamers, our immigrant brothers and sisters who arrived as children in the United States and who are in desperate need of protection from deportation if the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program were to end on March 5.
“We are profoundly grateful for the Dreamers. They have led the way and continue to lead the way. By raising their own voices and speaking their own truth, they show us how to put love into action.
“Together, we sang and prayed for justice, for Senators to pass a clean Dream Act and protect Dreamers and their families. We peacefully disrupted the injustice of Congress refusing to take action to protect Dreamers by getting arrested in an act of nonviolent civil disobedience. We continued to pray the rosary and sing in the Russell Senate Office Building until the police arrested us. We did so with Dreamers, to raise their cries for justice to our members of Congress, cries for protection from deportation, cries for the right to continue to live with their families and work in the United States, and cries for comprehensive immigration reform that will rescue Dreamers and others from our dysfunctional U.S. immigration system.
“Standing together with Dreamers and Catholic Sisters, Priests, Brothers, and Lay people, both young and old and of every race, we solidified even further our solidarity with Dreamers and with all our immigrant brothers and sisters. We don’t know what will happen to the Dreamers – well-over 700,000 brave young people brought to the United States as children – if Congress does not take action before March 5, if the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program is allowed to end and Dreamers are left vulnerable to deportation. But we do know that we are one body in Christ. To Dreamers, we say, you are Jesus in the here and now. We stand with you, with your families, and with all those who migrate in search of a safe home.”
Photo: Gerry Lee, center with red tie, at the Catholic Day of Action with Dreamers, February 27, 2018 / MOGC.
Video by The Associated Press, available online at The AP Youtube Channel.
