Catholic Bishops Stumble on the Banana Peel of DACA Policy

Patrick O’Hannigan, THE AMERICAN SPECTATOR: February 16, 2018

Should they really be encouraging the faithful to email their congressmen?

The website for the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) devotes an “Advocacy Center” page to political issues, and the cause du jour on that page is “support for our brothers and sisters who are migrants and refugees.” In bishop-speak, that’s a tip of the zucchetto to a campaign called “Share the Journey.” It’s also an endorsement of Barack Obama’s DACA program, and a plea for continuing DACA on moral grounds.

It makes sense for Catholic bishops to offer a moral argument for DACA rather than a legal or Constitutional one. They know which side of the street offers them firmer footing. Nevertheless, the bishops have let the rest of us down, whether we’re part of their flock or simply know someone who is. The boilerplate text that American Catholic faithful are encouraged to email to their legislators under the subject line “Please Support Dreamers” stinks of poor logic and prejudice-inducing rhetorical flourishes.

The most aggravating part of what the bishops want the Catholic faithful to say to their representatives sits up top, in the first three sentences of the letter that they’re soliciting signatures for:

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