Catholic college presidents stand up for undocumented students
To register for a program protecting undocumented students from immigration enforcement, they had to list their names and addresses. Besides fear over whether the program will be continued, Jesuit Father Paul Fitzgerald said those students now worry they've put parents and siblings at risk of deportation.
Leaders of U.S. Catholic colleges and universities signed Nov. 30 statements urging the continuation of a government program protecting undocumented students from immigration enforcement. (Credit: AP.)
Mark Zimmermann
December 2, 2016
NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT
WASINGTON, D.C. - Before he joined more than 100 leaders of U.S. Catholic colleges and universities to sign statements of support for undocumented immigrant students, Jesuit Father Paul Fitzgerald, president of the University of San Francisco, came face to face with the human side of the immigration question.
One week before signing the Nov. 30 statements, the priest met with 15 undocumented students attending his university and heard their stories.
They had come from Latin America at a very young age with their parents. Many are Catholic, and some didn’t even know that they were undocumented immigrants until they were in high school.
“They’re wonderful young people, passionate about their studies,” he said in an interview with Crux. “They’re pursuing degrees to become nurses, advocates and attorneys. They want to give back to a society which has been so good to them.”
https://cruxnow.com/church-in-the-usa/2016/12/02/catholic-college-presidents-stand-undocumented-students/