Pray with Pope Francis. Every month, Pope Francis asks prayers for a specific intention. The Georgia Catholic Conference in conjunction with the Archdiocesan Disabilities Ministry and Georgia Catholics Against the Death Penalty has supported bills in the Georgia General Assembly to end the death penalty in Georgia or, at least, restrict its application. See for example, HB 485, which did not pass in the 2022 session. Our prayers and work must continue.
Afghans in America are still at risk. Catholic Legal Immigration Network has released a resource arguing for a pathway to lawful permanent residency for Afghans refugees in the United States a year after evacuation of our allies from Afghanistan. See the full report here.
Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival (DACA). DACA is an Obama era policy established by a 2012 memorandum to provide protection for migrants who were brought to the United States as children. The program has been challenged in court with mixed results. The Biden administration has issued a formal regulation which may be more difficult to challenge in court. Nevertheless, the proposed regulation does not expand the protection for those registered. As Auxiliary Bishop Mario Dorsonville of Washington, the U.S. bishops’ conference migration committee chair, stated, only Congress is “empowered” to provide Dreamers “with the lasting relief or legal certainty that the common good requires…. How much longer must they, their families, and their communities wait for our elected officials to come together in a bipartisan manner to find a solution? For decades, my brother bishops and I have supported legislative measures such as the American Dream and Promise Act.”
Post expires at 9:21am on Monday December 30th, 2024