For Immediate Release
December 1, 2016
Contact: Max Rosenblum or Graham Roth
202.387.2800 | news@rac.org
WASHINGTON – Rabbi Jonah Dov Pesner, Director of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, sent President Barack Obama an open letter urging him to take swift action to protect those who have applied or participated in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. The complete letter follows below. In it, Rabbi Pesner wrote:
I strongly urge you to protect all those who applied or participated in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, and who may now be at increased risk of deportation.
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In the waning weeks of your administration, participants in and applicants to DACA are in a vulnerable state. Their names and contact information are now known to the federal government, and if the succeeding administration seeks to deport all undocumented immigrants as was stated during the campaign, the DACA program provides a robust list. DREAMers are a unique population: they are undocumented through no fault of their own, having arrived here as children and having grown up in the United States, and could be deported to a country they do not know or remember. For them to face removal from the United States because they sought legal channels to work and contribute to society is the height of injustice. I urge you take swift action to protect DACA participants and applicants from deportation.
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I urge you to use the power of your office to protect DREAMers and ensure our nation lives up to its proud history as a nation of immigrants.
The complete letter is available here.
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The Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism is the Washington office of the Union for Reform Judaism, whose nearly 900 congregations across North America encompass 1.5 million Reform Jews, and the Central Conference of American Rabbis, whose membership includes more than 2,000 Reform rabbis. Visit www.rac.org for more.
