More on DREAM Act and JFI

Dear JFI Friends and Supporters,

As we look to December and contemplate the birth of Jesus, we remind ourselves that migration is a key theme in the gospel and that baby Jesus himself was a refugee who fled with the Holy Family from Herod into Egypt. People on the move including immigrants and refugees are special in the eyes of God, while our children are often the most vulnerable among us.

Meanwhile, thousands of students and youth that were brought to the U.S. as children (and even infants) can now be detained in federal immigrant detention centers and deported to a country they have never known; simply because they have no legal means to adjust their status in the U.S.

The good news is that a movement is growing for a vote on the DREAM Act. Passage of the DREAM Act would give students that have grown up and graduated high school in the US an opportunity to serve our country and earn a pathway to citizenship through higher education or military service.

In keeping with our Catholic Social Teachings, we are encouraging our dioceses to lift up the theme of immigration and support the DREAM Act for our youth who are ready to serve our country and give back to this great nation. Time is of the essence because the vote would take place during the so-called lame duck session, between now and the second week of December, and we expect a vote on DREAM as early as the week of November 29th.

There are 4 ways we are hoping you can help us promote the DREAM Act in the next 3 weeks:


1.      Encourage parishes to include a 1 page insert regarding the DREAM Act in their bulletins and encourage pastors to make pulpit announcements in support of DREAM (we will be sending 1 page bulletin inserts and pulpit announcements out very soon).

2.      Go to www.justiceforimmigrants.org and send out the electronic letter in support of the DREAM Act to your members of Congress. Please do this often and encourage friends, family and neighbors to do the same.

 3.     Set up lobby visits in support of the DREAM Act with your members of Congress during the Thanksgiving recess between November 22 - 26th.


4.     Organize a candlelight vigil, press event or public meeting in support of the DREAM Act the week of December 1st, 2010. (We will be sending out sample fliers, media advisories, and agendas very soon as well)


Please contact Jaci Braga at jbraga@usccb.org or Tony Cube at tcube@usccb.org if you are interested in taking part in one or all of the above suggestions and if you would like support in planning & organizing events and activities.