The Leadership Conference of Women Religious is committed to the gospel mandate to welcome the stranger and care for those in need. Catholic sisters have a long history of accompanying the immigrant community. We continue to minister to these aspiring citizens in schools, hospitals, and service agencies along the southern border and across the country. We know first-hand the fear and uncertainty that plagues these young people. We will continue to stand with immigrant youth and their families and will be staunch advocates for passage of legislation that provides DACA recipients and dreamers a path to citizenship without enforcement provisions including funding for detention, deportation, or border militarization and any proposal that would limit opportunities for family reunification.
We urge members of Congress of both parties to reaffirm the values upon which this nation was founded by supporting a commonsense path to justice for Dreamers and stability for families, communities, and local economies. We need legislation that will solve the problem President Trump created when he rescinded the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. We know that members of Congress believe it would be wrong to deport immigrant youth. We urge Congress to pass a clean Dream Act because it is the right thing to do and because it is consistent with our history and our national values.
LCWR and its members will continue to press for relief for families, an end to needless deportations, and the closure of all family detention centers. We will continue to advocate for bipartisan legislation that addresses the problems in our broken immigration system. We will continue to stand in solidarity with families, regardless of immigration status, who labor daily to provide safety and security for their children. We will continue to accompany Dreamers and their families and to work with all who struggle for justice for immigrants.
LCWR is an association of leaders of congregations of Catholic women religious in the United States. The conference has nearly 1300 members, who represent more than 38,800 women religious in the United States. Founded in 1956, LCWR assists its members to collaboratively carry out their service of leadership to further the mission of the Gospel in today’s world.
