The four Catholic bishops of Iowa are calling upon the U.S. Senate to pass legislation to protect DACA recipients. In a statement released today, the bishops said, “These young people entered the U.S. with their parents as children and know America as their only home. The dignity of every human being, particularly that of our [...]
The following is a letter sent by the Iowa Catholic bishops asking for clemency for Dustin Honken. He is scheduled to be the first Iowan executed since the 1960's. July 1, 2020 President Donald Trump The White House 1600 Pennsylvania Ave NW Washington, DC 20500 Dear President Trump: Dustin Lee Honken was convicted [...]
These days are not easy in our country. We see new instances of overt racism, the return of capital punishment at the federal level, a pandemic sickening and killing thousands of people, the possibility of thousands of young people with Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) status being deported, and proposed sweeping, negative changes in [...]
Statement from Iowa bishops on DACA recipients and asylum rule Downloadable one-pager on DACA Downloadable one-pager on DACA (español) Action alert is at https://justiceforimmigrants.org/category/action-alerts/ A decision by the U.S. Supreme Court in June 2020 prevented the Administration from ending the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. The DACA program was implemented in 2012 and [...]
The end of June usually means the release of several decisions by the U.S. Supreme Court and this year is no exception. Yesterday the Court issued its decision in “Espinoza vs. Montana Department of Revenue,” where a family challenged the Montana Supreme Court’s decision to invalidate a school tuition organization tax credit similar to Iowa’s. [...]
LAWSUIT FILED AGAINST BILL REQUIRING A WAITING PERIOD BEFORE ABORTION Planned Parenthood and the ACLU of Iowa have filed a lawsuit in Johnson County to stop the “24-hour waiting period before an abortion” bill recently passed by the Iowa Legislature. As of press time the bill awaits the governor’s signature. We believe a 24-hour waiting [...]
The Iowa legislative session ended Sunday afternoon as the state “reopens” in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic and protests continue on racial and justice issues. Unfortunately, the Senate failed to take up House Joint Resolution 14 for debate in the waning hours of the session. The bill would have amended Iowa’s Constitution to permit [...]
The Iowa Legislature has picked up where it left off after a three-month pause due to the coronavirus. Here’s a report from last week’s action on some bills of interest to the Iowa Catholic Conference: House Joint Resolution 14 passed the Senate Judiciary Committee by a vote of 10 to 4. The bill would amend [...]
LEGISLATURE SCHEDULED TO RE-CONVENE ON WEDNESDAY The Iowa Legislature is scheduled to come back into session next Wednesday, June 3. Some predict that the legislature will work for about 10 days on budget bills and a few policy items. The second legislative deadline is June 5. Only bills that have passed one chamber and a [...]
The U.S. Catholic bishops have issued several action alerts asking for contacts with Congress related to the COVID-19 crisis. You can find the first two action alerts at https://votervoice.net/USCCB/home: Increasing the SNAP (food stamp) benefit. Families are struggling to put food on the table during this time of economic crisis. Churches and charities are working [...]