Every week at All Saints Church we put our faith into action. This week our focus are those who have been the recipients of the protections provided by DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) policy.

On July 16, 2021, the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas issued a ruling stating that the DACA policy was unlawful. The Department of Justice has filed an appeal to the Texas court ruling in the Fifth Circuit Court, but with the outcome of the case unclear, DACA recipients are once again in a state of anxiety and uncertainty about their future. Only Congress has the tools to provide permanent protections by passing legislation to create a pathway to legal status for Dreamers. Given that efforts to pass protections for DACA recipients and Dreamers have stalled in the Senate, we urge you to contact your Senators to pass legislation to protect DACA recipients and Dreamers.

DACA, which the Obama administration created through executive action in 2012, provides certain undocumented individuals who arrived in the country as children with a renewable temporary status that protects them from deportation and allows them to work in the United States. The court’s 2021 decision leaves DACA recipients and applicants in a vulnerable position. Although the ruling allows the more than 600,000 DACA recipients to keep and renew their status for the time being, the Circuit court could very well remove this exception as the case moves forward. Meanwhile, the decision prohibits the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) from issuing this status to new applicants, including at least 80,000 individuals whose submitted applications are under review by DHS. It also prohibits eligible individuals who have not yet applied from seeking protection through the program.

Though the Biden administration’s appeal moves forward in the Fifth Circuit, Congress can and should take action to provide permanent protections. In March 2021, the House of Representatives passed the American Dream and Promise Act of 2021 (H.R. 6) to provide a pathway to legal status for DACA recipients and Dreamers. The Dream Act of 2021 (S.264) was introduced in the Senate early last year as well. Polls also consistently show that Americans across the political spectrum support providing Dreamers like DACA recipients with a pathway to citizenship, showing that passing one of these bills would garner public support across the country.

Passing these bills aligns with The Episcopal Church’s longstanding commitment to protecting Dreamers. The Church has advocated for legal status for Dreamers since 2009, and for passing the Dream Act since 2012, calling on Congress to pass “federal legislation that presents a pathway to citizenship for undocumented youth and young adults.” We call on our community to contact their members of Congress to rise to the urgency of the moment and protect individuals who have called this country their home their whole lives.

Options to Take Action:

1. Sign the Action Letters at the Action Table outside the church on Sunday morning.
2. Download pdf copies of the Action Letters that you can sign and mail.
   Action Letter to Senators Feinstein and Padilla for residents of California
   Action Letter to the Senate for those residing outside California
3. Go to the Episcopal Public Policy Network website

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If you ever need to look up your member of the U.S. House of Representatives or your U.S. Senators check here: www.house.gov and www.senate.gov.

To find contact information for your California State Senator or California State Assemblymember check here: www.senate.ca.gov and www.assembly.ca.gov.