Statement from the Roman Catholic Diocese of Charleston Regarding the Decision to Rescind DACA

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Charleston, which encompasses the entire state of South Carolina, supports the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) which provides youth with administrative relief from deportation. DACA youth are contributors to our economy, veterans of our military, academic standouts in our universities, and leaders in our parishes. These young people entered the United States as children and know America as their only home. As Catholic Christians, we believe that the dignity of every human being particularly that of our children and youth, must be protected. We urge our lawmakers to publicly support DACA youth here in South Carolina. They should know that our bishop, Most Rev. Robert E. Guglielmone, supports these young people. We call upon our elected officials to move forward in a bipartisan manner and find a permanent legislative solution to ensure that DACA youth can remain in the United States and can continue to reach their God-given potential. We also strongly encourage our lawmakers to seriously take on the responsibility of fixing our broken immigration system. We acknowledge that addressing immigration policy can be daunting and difficult. It is a task that requires prudent analysis and charitable dialogue. But, we are certain that there are opportunities to assist and advocate all immigrants including our DACA youth.