Catholic Charities CEO: ‘Deeply Heartbreaking’ DACA Illegal Aliens Haven’t Been Given Amnesty

Hispanic Congregation
Matt McClainThe Washington Post via Getty Images

President and CEO of Catholic Charities USA, Dominican Sister Donna Markham, says it is “deeply heartbreaking” that nearly 800,000 illegal aliens do not have amnesty to permanently remain in the United States.

After multiple amnesty plans failed to pass through Congress this week, leaders of the Catholic Church are decrying the lack of amnesty for illegal aliens enrolled in the President Obama-created Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.

In an interview with American Magazine, the Catholic leaders — also fervent supporters of open borders — pleaded with Congress to immediately pass amnesty for illegal aliens.

Markham said the lack of an amnesty thus far for DACA illegal aliens was “deeply heartbreaking:”

“While thankful for the bipartisan majority support for protecting DACA youth, it is unconscionable that nearly 800,000 will continue to live in fear and uncertainty,” she said Feb. 15. [Emphasis added]

Santa Fe, New Mexico Archbishop John C. Wester said Congress’s main priority at the moment should be passing amnesty, telling American Magazine: “Time is running out for them. Congress must pass bipartisan legislation that would provide urgently needed relief for Dreamers.”

“As Catholics, we believe the dignity of every human being, particularly that of our immigrant and refugee children and youth, must be protected,” Archbishop Wester said in his statement. “The sanctity of families must be upheld. The Catholic bishops have long supported undocumented youth brought to the United States by their parents, known as Dreamers, and continue to do so.” [Emphasis added]

University of Notre Dame President, Holy Cross Father John I. Jenkins, said the lack of an amnesty for DACA illegal aliens was a “cruel uncertainty,” but failed to mention the American victims of illegal immigration.

Jenkins said:

These young women and men have done nothing wrong and have known life only in the United States. The Dreamers who are enrolled at Notre Dame are also poised to make lasting contributions to the United States. [Emphasis added]

We pray that our leaders will end the cruel uncertainty for these talented and dedicated young people who have so much to offer our nation. Regardless, Notre Dame will continue to support them financially, maintain their enrollment, provide expert legal assistance should that become necessary and do everything it can to support them. [Emphasis added]

As Breitbart News’s Michael Patrick Leahy has previously reported, it remains an undeniable truth that the Catholic Church is rewarded by the federal government for their support for mass immigration and refugee resettlement to the U.S.

Breitbart News reported:

As for the Catholic Church’s economic interest in unlimited legal immigration, one need look no further than the hundreds of millions of dollars paid each year by the federal government to Catholic Charities, one of the nine leading voluntary agencies (VOLAGs) who resettle the tens of thousands of refugees who arrive in the country each year under the Refugee Admissions Program.

“In FY 2015, the State Department, through the Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration and the Office of Refugee Resettlement, spent more than $1 billion on these programs, which settled international refugees ‘vetted’ by the United Nations High Commission on International Refugees in all 50 states and the District of Columbia,” Breitbart News reported:

Much of this $1 billion in annual revenue goes to voluntary agencies (VOLAGs), several of which are Christian non-profits, such as Catholic Charities, Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service, World Relief Corporation, Church World Service, and Domestic and Foreign Missionary Service of the Episcopal Church of the USA. (also referred to as Episcopal Migration Ministries), who are contracted on behalf of the government to help these refugees get settled in their new homes in America.

Additionally, immigration to the U.S. — both legal and illegal — has primarily derived from North American and Central American countries that are heavily Catholic.

Of the 12 to 30 million illegal aliens currently residing in the U.S. with the support of Catholic Bishops and Catholic Charities USA, the vast majority are from Mexico and surrounding Central American nations. As Pew Research reported, about 52 percent of the illegal alien population is from Mexico, where more than 80 percent of the country is Catholic.

At the same time, the American Catholic Church’s congregation has rapidly shifted due to mass immigration through the decades.

In a report by Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI), researchers found that “The Catholic Church is experiencing an ethnic transformation. Twenty-five years ago, nearly nine in ten (87%) Catholics were white, non-Hispanic, compared to 55% today. Fewer than four in ten (36%) Catholics under the age of 30 are white, non-Hispanic; 52% are Hispanic.”

John Binder is a reporter for Breitbart News. Follow him on Twitter at @JxhnBinder.

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