The Dream Act, which allows children of undocumented immigrants to work toward legal status and pursue a college education, failed again on Sept. 21 to pass through the U.S. Senate. But Kevin Appleby, director of migration policy and public affairs for the U.S. bishops’ Office of Migration and Refugee Services, expressed confidence on Sept. 24 that the idea “is gaining more support on the merits.” The legislation regularizes the legal status of people who came to the United States before age 16, lived here at least five years, graduated from a U.S. high school and were pursuing higher education or military service. According to the Migration Policy Institute, approximately 114,000 young people who have already obtained at least an associate’s degree would be immediately eligible for conditional lawful permanent resident status under the legislation. Another 612,000 high school graduates could be eligible if they graduated from college or completed two years of military service.
The Dream Act Endures
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Pope Leo I helped to ensure that Catholicism would outlast the Roman Empire. His name is a reminder that our faith rises above contemporary politics and temporal authority.
The Gospel parable of the “wasteful sower” who casts seeds on fertile soil as well as on a rocky path “is an image of the way God loves us,” Pope Leo XIV told 40,000 visitors and pilgrims at his first weekly general audience.
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The Archdiocese of Chicago has scheduled a Mass and a special program to celebrate the election and inauguration of Pope Leo XIV, a native son of the Windy City.