Garden Grove, Calif. (January 23, 2018) – The Most Reverend Thanh Thai Nguyen, Auxiliary Bishop of Orange, will join with immigration advocates and faith leaders for a prayer service outside the Brea district office of Representative Ed Royce (210 W Birch St., Brea) on January 23, 2018 at 6:30 p.m. to continue their calls for a just and equitable resolution to the unresolved legal status of thousands of young people within the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. Bishop Nguyen will lead this event by sharing his own harrowing migration story and will call on community members to rise above the current rancor and respond with hospitality and love to these young people seeking to continue the only life they know.
“I am personally called to prayerful solidarity with the dreamers in our community and across our country. Having fled religious persecution and journeyed toward a new life in America, I am called to stand with these young people as they seek to keep their dreams alive,” said Bishop Nguyen.
Two Dreamers from local parishes will share testimony at this evening of prayer and advocacy.
The DACA program was eliminated by the current administration in September 2017 thereby removing protections against deportation for nearly 800,000 young people who were brought to the United States as children and have lived here for decades. This community event seeks to continue the prayerful call of Catholics and advocates from many faith traditions across Southern California for legislators to pass a permanent resolution that protects these young immigrants from deportation and provides a path to eventual citizenship.
This event is a public follow-up to the December OPEN LETTER to congress members Ed Royce and Mimi Walters, signed by bishops from three dioceses and every pastor in their respective districts, reiterating the Catholic bishops unwavering support for DACA recipients. “As Catholics and people of faith we are challenged to welcome the stranger and speak up through prayer and action when we see injustice in our world. Today I call on our community to stand shoulder to shoulder with the dreamers and call on the Holy Spirit to soften the hearts of our elected officials,” Bishop Nguyen concluded.
