Immigration Task Force
Recognizing the contributions that immigrants and refugees have always brought, the Immigration Task force urges support for meaningful immigration reform which recognizes America's need for security and its need for workers, while celebrating the values of family life of those forced to leave their native lands.
Our immediate concern is the young people brought to this county at an early age in their parents' quest for a better future. These young people have been living and working, going to school, becoming workers and contributing members of American economic life. Under the previous administration, they were protected from deportation and allowed to a work by a temporary order now cancelled by the present administration. The temporary order was called DACA.
- DACA means Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, a deferment of deportation for children who had little say in the decision to come to this country.
- DACA participants receive only permission to work, no social benefits of any kind.
- DACA participants pay taxes, even for Social Security and Medicare which they cannot receive.
- Being a DACA participant does not lead to citizenship. There is no line to enter.
- Given the chance, DACA participants have succeeded in careers and the military, just like their schoolmates.
- Having violated no law themselves, the DACA program reflects the American spirit of not punishing the innocent.
We urge you to contact your members of Congress* to urge them to pass the Dream Act of 2017 to protect these young contributors to our country who have grown up here and are as American in mind and spirit as their classmates. Help to continue the American Dream.
Once the future of these young people is secured, we hope to help our legislators shape comprehensive immigration reform.
*To contact your U.S. congressperson, go to: https://www.usa.gov/elected-officials/
The following links lead to national and local organizations providing immigration information for the guidance of immigrants and for public education about immigration issues. Information at the local links was developed by One Human Family Taskforce members.
https://www.davenportdiocese.org/after-daca-qa - Information on Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) - the young people brought to this country by their parents at an early age. The information describes what DACA is and is not.
https://cliniclegal.org/resources/know-your-rights-cards - Link to Know Your Rights Cards in many languages.
https://cliniclegal.org/resources/know-your-rights-students - A treatment of the rights that students, parents, and schools need to understand.
https://davenportdiocese.org/changes-in-immigration - Provides links to information for immigrants, including those that must make the painful decisions about the care of their children, US citizens and non-citizen, and their property in the event of deportation.
http://www.palomaresqc.org - On this page, under the Immigration tab, there are links to the Spanish language immigration aids developed for immigrants.
http://www.palomaresqc.org/immigration - This link provides access to additional links for immigration guidance for immigrants.