The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Area clergy take up fight for ‘Dreamers’
A group of area clergy and church members gathered at the Celebrezze Federal Building in Cleveland to urge Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, and his congressional colleagues to pass a bill to protect “Dreamers,” also known as recipients of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA.
Earlier this month, three proposals were rejected in the Senate that would have protected “Dreamers” from deportation, according to the news release.
Faith leaders are holding Portman accountable for voting against two bipartisan proposals that failed by a handful of votes, the release also states.
“The proposals that Portman rejected had both Republican and Democratic support and were the result of painstaking negotiations and significant compromise by both parties.” said the Rev. John Lentz of Forest Hill Church in Cleveland Heights.
Volunteer Anne Hill said they are trying to remind people that this issue is about families being torn apart.
“We get caught up in policy, but if “Dreamers” are deported, their families will be torn apart,” she said. “Many of the “Dreamers” have children who were born here.”
About one in four “Dreamers” are parents of U.S. citizens, according to the release.
There’s an incredible urgency, said the Rev. Lisa O’Rear, rector of St. Andrew Episcopal Church in Mentor.
“We also need immigration laws that respect and preserve the family unit,” she said.
“We are calling on Sen. Portman to take the lead on what we believe is one of the most pressing civil rights issues of our time.”
In addition to fighting for “Dreamers,” the goal of this coalition consisting of Christian, Jewish and Unitarian Universalist faith leaders; and church members is comprehensive immigration reform.
Lentz and O’Rear advocate for the immigrant community in many ways. Last year both churches announced that they were offering sanctuary to women facing deportation.