SSNDs call for immigration reform
As we recognize Independence Day here in the United States, the image that comes to mind for us is the Statue of Liberty. The statue is an iconic symbol of freedom and liberty that welcomes immigrants arriving to our shores with an enduring message of hope, 'Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to be free.' For immigrant and refugee families seeking freedom and for our nation’s protection these days, how well are we living up to this message?
The leadership team of the School Sisters of Notre Dame Central Pacific Province joins the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR) in expressing our disappointment with the Supreme Court’s decision to let stand a ruling that blocks implementation of the Deferred Action for Parents of Americans (DAPA) and expanded Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) programs that promised temporary relief to millions of young adults, parents living in fear of deportation, and children who worry that their parents could be taken from them at any moment.
The School Sisters of Notre Dame have walked with and ministered to immigrants/refugees in the United State since our arrival in 1847. We believe how our society treats immigrants and refugees is a fundamental moral issue. In our various ministries, we have witnessed firsthand the effects of our inadequate, broken, and sometimes cruel, immigration system. We stand with our LCWR sister communities, the U. S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and others in calling for Congress to enact comprehensive immigration reform as quickly as possible. In the interim, we invite you to join us and other religious in urging the White House to suspend deportations of the parents of children born in the United States. Let us not break up one more family in need of protection, striving for freedom and security.
“The strangers who sojourn with you shall be to you as the natives among you, and you shall love them as yourself; for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.” – Leviticus 19:34