DACA renewals:
Promise Arizona launches a petition effort asking Congress to support renewals during a gathering of faith leaders.
Promise Arizona launched a petition effort asking Congress to support DACA renewals during a gathering of faith leaders Tuesday.
Bishop Eduardo Nevares, a member of the Conference of Catholic Bishops and auxiliary bishop of the Phoenix Catholic Diocese, spoke in front of the state Capitol building, urging Congress to pass Dream Act legislation.
The act refers to a law that advocates are urging Congress to pass that will allow people brought into the United States illegally as children to remain. The Trump administration has announced a March deadline for the DACA policy to end, when it no longer will accept renewed status for nearly 700,000 people in the country who have qualified under an Obama Administration rule.
Nevares said the issue of DACA — Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals — is important to Christians because of the impact it has on communities.
“We need to understand that we are a faith community,” Nevares said. “We need to understand that we promote fairness and justice for all, and that includes our DACA students.”
Nevares said he hopes that everyone does their job to protect DACA students by calling or writing to their senators.
“Please, this is urgent; we need everybody to support this effort,” Nevares said.
Rep. Tony Navarrete stood alongside Promise Arizona, an immigrant-advocacy group, during the press conference. He is the deputy director of the organization.
Navarrete said he supports the efforts of anyone willing to fight for DACA recipients.
“This week is a very important week,” Navarrete said. “We are asking for all our representatives in Congress to stand strong, to show courage and to make sure that they are siding with these immigrant families.”
Navarrete said he wanted to applaud Arizona Sen. Jeff Flake for helping to craft a bill that supports DACA students. Flake has been working on a bipartisan effort in Congress, but that effort has run into obstacles from some lawmakers who want any DACA law tied to other immigration action.
“I stand in solidarity with the legislators in Congress who are trying to make a difference, who are trying to show courage in this time of uncertainty in our country,” Navarrete said.
James Garcia, the communication director for Promise Arizona, said the group has sent five volunteers to Washington D.C., on its behalf to petition.
Four of those five people are DACA beneficiaries, Garcia said.
Garcia said Promise Arizona will continue to help those who are eligible for DACA renewals with their applications.
Promise Arizona is a non-profit, faith-based organization that helps build diversity and leadership in Latino communities, according to the organization’s Facebook page.