CNA Staff, Jul 30, 2020 / 03:30 pm (CNA).- Leading U.S. Catholic bishops on Thursday criticized the Trump administration’s decision to consider ending DACA.
The Department of Homeland Security had announced on Wednesday that it would still consider ending the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, which allows certain immigrants brought to the U.S. illegally as children to apply for a delay of deportation, where they could also receive a work authorization, despite a recent decision by the Supreme Court.
“The Catholic Church in the United States has long advocated for the Dreamers and we will continue to stand with them,” stated Archbishop Jose Gomez of Los Angeles, president of the U.S. bishops’ conference (USCCB), and Bishop Mario Dorsonville, auxiliary bishop of Washington, D.C., and chair of the USCCB migration committee, on Thursday.
“Many [Dreamers] were brought to this country as infants and young children and they have grown up in our schools and parishes and now are making important contributions in the Church and in almost every area of American life,” the bishops said.
In September of 2017, the Trump administration first announced it would be winding down the program and accepting no new applications for deferred action. It gave Congress a six-month window to enact parts of the program into law.
Around 800,000 immigrants are estimated to have benefitted from the program by the time the Trump administration chose to end it in 2017. It was begun in 2012 by the Obama administration by an executive memorandum. Currently, around 670,000 DACA recipients work in the U.S., the USCCB says.
Congress failed to pass legislation by the deadline in March of 2018, and the administration moved ahead with its effort to end the program.
The Supreme Court in June ruled against the administration, saying that its process of ending DACA violated the Administrative Procedure Act because it did not provide “a reasoned explanation” for its decision. However, the Court sent the case back to the administration.
On Wednesday, DHS announced it would review DACA and would still consider ending it, and would not accept any new applications for deferred action during the review process.
DHS said that current DACA recipients could apply for a renewal of their status but that it would only be granted in one-year increments on a case-by-case basis.
“The new limits outlined in the Administration’s memorandum directly and negatively impact immigrant youth, their families, and the communities we serve,” Archbishop Gomez and Bishop Dorsonville said.
They urged President Trump to reinstate the original DACA protections and accept new applications.
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Paula Scanlan, a women’s sports activist and former teammate of trans-identifying athlete Lia Thomas on the University of Pennsylvania women’s swim team, speaks to a crowd about her story. Originally only speaking out anonymously, Scanlan has since gone public about the emotional impact of having to share a locker room with a biological male had on her as a sexual assault survivor. / Credit: Photo courtesy of Independent Women’s Forum
Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Aug 19, 2024 / 12:00 pm (CNA).
The Biden administration’s expansion of Title IX regulations to offer protection of transgender individuals in women’s sports, educational programs, and school bathrooms has been blocked in half of the states in the country.
The new rule is currently blocked in 26 states as a coalition of states and conservative groups are fighting the rule in court.
Yet, for many of the country’s most populous states — such as California, New York, Illinois, and Pennsylvania — the rule took effect on Aug. 1. This means that the measure is impacting Americans in many of the country’s largest population centers.
Christiana Kiefer, senior counsel at one of these groups, the Alliance Defending Freedom, told CNA that “the Biden-Harris administration’s radical attempt to redefine sex in Title IX turns back the clock on women’s opportunities, erodes student privacy, and threatens women’s sports.”
“Policies that deny biological truth create real victims — particularly impacting the dignity and safety of women and girls,” Kiefer said. “We are hopeful that the courts will ultimately rule to protect privacy and safety, free speech, and fairness in sports.”
What is the new rule?
In April, the Biden Department of Education redefined the prohibition on sex discrimination in education, enshrined in the 1972 Title IX provisions, to include discrimination based on a person’s “gender identity.”
The new guidelines prohibit any policy and practice that “prevents a person from participating in an education program or activity consistent with their gender identity.” Schools that do not comply risk having their federal funding cut off.
According to May Mailman, director of the Independent Women’s Law Center (IWLC), the rule means that any male can now assert that he has been discriminated against based on gender identity and claim a right to use a women’s space.
As IWLC director, Mailman said she has seen the personal impact that forcing schools to allow biological men into women’s sports and private spaces has had on young women. Ultimately, she believes the new rule amounts to “the elimination of women’s spaces.”
“You have Paula Scanlan, who’s an IWF [Independent Women’s Forum] ambassador, she was forced to undress before a fully intact male 18 times a week. And she suffered through it, but how many women would do it? Certainly not all. So, women are going to remove themselves from circumstances that require them to be naked or to do really private activities like urinating in front of males,” Mailman explained.
Scanlan is a women’s sports activist and former teammate of trans-identifying athlete Lia Thomas on the University of Pennsylvania women’s swim team. Originally only speaking out anonymously, Scanlan has since gone public about the emotional impact of having to share a locker room with a biological male had on her as a sexual assault survivor.
“That is the opposite of what Title IX was created to do, which is to give women opportunities. So, what you’re going to see is Title IX actually being flipped on its head. Women are going to remove themselves from educational programs like sports because it requires such indecency.”
Where is the rule in effect?
A slate of Republican-led states has challenged the rule in court, many arguing that it violates their state laws. As a result, the Biden administration’s changes are currently blocked in 26 states.
The Independent Women’s Forum has published an interactive map showing which states have successfully blocked the rule and in which states it is currently active. The map also shows which states have pending litigation on the rule. Credit: Image courtesy of Independent Women’s Forum.
The Biden Title IX changes are currently blocked in most of the South and Midwest, including Texas, Florida, and Ohio. Because of a Kansas lawsuit that was joined by several other states and conservative organizations, the rule has been blocked in over 3,800 individual schools across the country.
However, the blocks in these states are only considered “preliminary injunctions,” meaning they are temporary, pending further review in the courts. Because of this, the rule could eventually take effect in any of the 26 states where it is currently blocked.
The Biden administration’s Title IX change has already taken effect in 24 states, primarily in Western and Northeastern coastal states, as well as the Great Lakes region.
“It seems like half the country, but it’s actually more than half the country because if you think about population, this is California, this is New York, so for a huge portion of the population, they are now under the Biden regime, where male and female spaces are no longer protected in education programs,” Mailman said.
“In those schools, the Biden administration can absolutely go after a school if it does not police pronouns, if it has male and female locker rooms, if it has male and female bathrooms, if it has male and female scholarships … it affects all education programs that accept federal money.”
What’s next?
On Friday the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously denied the Biden administration’s request to partially enforce the new rule in several states where it has been blocked. Mailman explained in a video posted to social media that while the decision does not change much right now it does signal the Supreme Court may agree that Biden’s changes to Title IX are unconstitutional.
Ultimately, Mailman believes the fate of this rule depends in large part on the presidential election. If elected to the White House, Mailman said that a Kamala Harris administration is “absolutely going to take it further.”
“Judges are something that the president has a huge say in because they nominate them. You can’t be a judge if you don’t have the president,” she said. “So, the types of judges that Kamala Harris is going to put on the courts are the types of judges who are going to say that absolutely, Title IX is some gender identity law, even though it’s not.”
CNA Staff, Jun 9, 2020 / 04:51 pm (CNA).- The Catholic bishops of Oklahoma have voiced support for a ballot measure that would expand Medicaid in the state.
“Our state’s SoonerCare program currently provides critical health coverage to Okl… […]
Father Michael Trummer, left, and Andrew Hansen produced a documentary, "God is Alive," using two cameras and their cell phones. / Andrew Hansen
St. Louis, Mo., Aug 5, 2023 / 06:30 am (CNA).
Central Illinois doesn’t get a whole lot of… […]
2 Comments
Stick to your position, Mr. President. Following the advice of the bishops will get you defeated in November and complete the destruction of the country.
The church needs to stop injecting itself in politics.
Illegal aliens need to get out of the country and Americans don’t care how its done.
The law here still states that children belong to their parents and are subject to the jurisdiction of their parents meaning that if the parents are Mexican, Guatemalan or whatever other country’s citizens then their children are citizens of that country.
Obey the law. That was Christ’s teaching and it’s horrifying that the Church is now going against Christ’s command.
Pope Paul VI was correct when he said that the Smoke of Satan has entered the Church and it continues to prove it every day, especially when it allows bishops to make these kinds of statements.
Begone Satan!
Stick to your position, Mr. President. Following the advice of the bishops will get you defeated in November and complete the destruction of the country.
The church needs to stop injecting itself in politics.
Illegal aliens need to get out of the country and Americans don’t care how its done.
The law here still states that children belong to their parents and are subject to the jurisdiction of their parents meaning that if the parents are Mexican, Guatemalan or whatever other country’s citizens then their children are citizens of that country.
Obey the law. That was Christ’s teaching and it’s horrifying that the Church is now going against Christ’s command.
Pope Paul VI was correct when he said that the Smoke of Satan has entered the Church and it continues to prove it every day, especially when it allows bishops to make these kinds of statements.
Begone Satan!