Washington D.C., Jan 26, 2018 / 16:36 pm
On Thursday, US President Donald Trump announced a proposal to create a pathway to citizenship for 1.8 million people brought to the United States as children in exchange for increased funding for border security and for an end to "chain-migration" and diversity visa lottery policies.
The plan is controversial, from both the left and the right. The right is concerned that Trump is backing away from his campaign promises and that this new pathway to citizenship effectively amounts to amnesty, whereas the left thinks the proposals are too "hard-line" and that the "Dreamers" are being used as pawns to advance an agenda.
The US Conference of Catholic Bishops has a more nuanced take on the issue.
In an interview with Catholic News Agency, Bill Canny, executive director of the USCCB's Migration and Refugee Services Offices, said that while the bishops agree that border security is important, this proposal is only going to create animosity between Republicans and Democrats and will not improve the current situation for the "Dreamers."