World Relief, one of the larger humanitarian organizations globally, has spoken out against a recent ruling in Texas that prohibits new applications for child immigrants.
On Friday, U.S. District Judge Andrew Hanen penned an order that demanded the Biden Administration stop granting applications for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA. The legal status is an important tool for any men or women who may have immigrated into the states illegally while under 18, also known as 'DREAMers.'
"Hundreds of thousands of individual DACA recipients, along with their employers, states, and loved ones, have come to rely on the DACA program," Hanen said in his order. "Given those interests, it is not equitable for a government program that has engendered such significant reliance to terminate suddenly."
This decision by Hanen was seen as dismaying by World Relief president Scott Arbeiter. The humanitarian organization has helped immigrants fill out more than 4,300 DACA applications, acting as a significant Christian supporter of immigrants. "This new decision is devastating for these resilient young people and for their families, churches, communities, and employers," says Arbeiter in a press release.
Both World Relief and Arbeiter believe that Congress must step in to challenge and amend this ruling. "Congress should not wait for further court decisions: they must act immediately to pass legislation that the significant majority of Americans finally. Including the majority of evangelical Christians, say they support."
Arbeiter is not the only one advocating for Congress to step in and fix these laws. The Rev. Samuel Rodriguez, president of the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference, also released a statement encouraging Congress to amend these policies.
"America's endless string of broken promises to our Dreamers lays entirely at the feet of one branch of the United States government: Congress," argues Rodriguez. "It isn't for our presidents, judges, or justices to make our laws. Congress must do that. Inaction in a Democrat-controlled Congress is equally reprehensible as inaction by a Republican-controlled Congress. Both lead to gross injustice."
