Ivonne Ramirez will be able to stay in the United States because of a U.S. Supreme Court decision 18 that prohibits ending the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.Photo Credits: Lisa JohnstonIvonne Ramirez will continue overseeing catechists at Our Lady
of Guadalupe Parish in Ferguson. She will continue working, paying
taxes, volunteering and supporting the community. And she’ll continue
working as a quality control specialist for a medical supply company.
That’s
because of a U.S. Supreme Court decision June 18 that prohibits the
ending the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, which
has allowed about 700,000 young people known as Dreamers who arrived in
the United States as children without documents to remain in the United
States.
“I can finally breathe,” Ramirez said, adding that the decision puts her and others one step closer to citizenship.
Archbishop Robert J. Carlson commended the decision in a statement,
pointing out that it enables young people who have grown up and
established lives in the United States to continue to contribute to
society.
“I hope that this may serve as an important step toward
offering a permanent solution for Dreamers and affirming the human
dignity of these brothers and sisters in Christ,” he said.
The
archbishop said he, the archdiocese and the U.S. Conference of Catholic
Bishops continue to call on Congress to pass legislation that offers a
pathway to citizenship, “and we call for the Trump Administration to end
its pursuit of terminating the DACA program, which would not only
abandon our neighbors who contribute much to our communities, but move
us backward as a society at a moment when we are working toward greater
social justice, peace, economic stability and healing as a country.”
Now
age 26, Ramirez was brought to the United States when she was around 8
years old. “We’ve been here since we were kids,” Ramirez said of the
Dreamers. “It wasn’t our decision.”
She said she has strong ties
to her community, tries to better herself, is constantly learning and is
family-oriented. The only difference between her and other American
young adults “is that piece of paper,” she said regarding her
documentation.
“This is my home. I don’t remember much from way back” when she lived in Mexico.
Sister
Cathy Doherty, SSND, pastoral associate at Our Lady of Guadalupe
Parish, called the Supreme Court decision “fantastic.” The young people
have been “living on the edge,” while awaiting the decision, not knowing
if they’d have to return to an unfamiliar country, she said. “This
gives them hope again. It’s a good day and a great decision.”
Sister Cathy said that the matter affects people’s lives and is “truly a pro-life issue.”
Meredith
Rataj, immigrant services site director at St. Francis Community
Services, said that when she heard the decision “I literally fell on the
floor. I was sobbing. I still cry now because I know how it impacts the
families in our community.”
St. Francis Community Services is a Catholic Charities agency providing social services primarily to an immigrant population.
St.
Louis is home for the Dreamers she has met for almost their entire
life. “We have so many clients who do not remember not living in the
United States.”