WASHINGTON—On September 13, 2021, the House Committee on the Judiciary approved language to be included in the forthcoming budget reconciliation bill that, if enacted, would provide legalization with a pathway to citizenship for millions of Dreamers, Temporary Protected Status (TPS) holders, Deferred Enforced Departure (DED) beneficiaries, undocumented agricultural workers, and other undocumented essential workers. The U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate will need to incorporate these provisions into the budget reconciliation bill and both chambers will need to pass the bill before these provisions can become law. This action by the Judiciary Committee follows a letter sent last week by five committee chairmen of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), which outlines the USCCB’s broad range of priorities for the full reconciliation bill, as well as a letter sent earlier this week by Bishop Mario E. Dorsonville, auxiliary bishop of Washington and chairman of the USCCB’s Committee on Migration, in which he endorses the Judiciary Committee provisions.

In response to the Judiciary Committee’s passage of the legalization provisions, Bishop Dorsonville issued the following statement:

WASHINGTON – Archbishop José H. Gomez of Los Angeles, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, issued the following statement on the eve of the twentieth anniversary of the September 11 terrorist attacks.

The full text of Archbishop Gomez’s statement follows:

WASHINGTON – Archbishop José H. Gomez of Los Angeles, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), has sent a letter to all U.S. bishops asking them to consider taking up a voluntary special collection in their dioceses for the Bishops Emergency Disaster Fund. Donations to the special collection will assist with the humanitarian, long-term recovery, and significant Church needs stemming from Hurricane Ida which made landfall in the Gulf Coast and made its way inland as a tropical storm, causing damage across several states. Archbishop Gomez’s request follows another request he made several weeks ago to the bishops where he asked them to consider a voluntary special collection for Haiti in the aftermath of the August 14 earthquake and Tropical Storm Grace.

In his letter sent to bishops, Archbishop Gomez detailed that the funds collected in this special appeal would be used to support the pastoral and reconstruction needs of the Church, as well as the efforts of Catholic Charities USA and/or Catholic Relief Services. These official relief agencies of the U.S. Catholic Church along with their local agencies respond to immediate emergency needs and recovery efforts.