As President of Dominican, Donna Carroll stated, "And Jesus said, ‘Father forgive them, for they know not what they do.’” Jesus helped the hungry, the homeless, and the poor. Many illegal immigrants come to the United States in hopes of no longer being the hungry, homeless, and poor in their countries. They come for a better life. Do we as a people of God "know what we are doing?" One of the principles of Catholic Social Teaching teach us that humans have a "Call to Family, Community, and Participation." This principle states, "how we organize our society in economics and politics, in law and policy - directly affects human dignity and the capacity of individuals to grow in community." Everyone should be allowed to grow within the community which they chose to live in. We should not have so many harsh restrictions, especially for people like David. Yes laws must exist, but there should be a way in which people like David can get the chance to live their life to their highest potential. The voice of many young immigrants must be heard, especially since so many of them were brought here by their parents and are here to do good for our country. Another very important CST principle is “Solidarity.” This principle states, “we are one human family whatever our national, racial, ethnic, economic, and ideological differences….the virtue of solidarity is the pursuit of justice and peace.” This is a major issue of both justice and peace for our country. We need to show our fellow brothers and sisters that they are loved and in return peace will prevail. I am proud to be a Dominican student and to be a part of such a loving and caring community.

Truly, this is a wonderful news. I'm grateful, and amazed that the people can be so good and helping the helpless. I also know many Immigrants who have come to the United States for better life and to support their families back at home. They struggle so much and stay away from their family just so that their families can live a better life, and their children can go to school and grow as better people. One of the guys I know, he worked as a Math teacher in a high School in India, but the school didn't pay him his salary for about 2years, and he want not able to take care of his family. Therefore, he came to the U.S. as a visitor and over stayed here. He stayed away from his wife and 5 kids for about 13 years or more, and he still works hard, walks for about 2 miles to get to his work place. He doesn't care about his struggle but all that he cares about is that his wife and family should live happily. He meets all their needs, and even their wants he wouldn't leave behind. Many of the American citizens offered him to get married and be legalized but he said "I can't be unfaithful to my wife. If I have to live all my life struggling away from my family, I would live. Only because I'm able to give them better life back home." I hope someone would help him and people like him to get legalized as David had been helped. So that he can go and bring his family to the U.S.

And I appreciate "The Catholic Social Teaching!"

“Father forgive them” also applies to those who would substitute personal morality for federal law in a democratic society. We do not live in a dictatorship where we do not have access to the ability to change our national laws. There are many laws that we may feel are not just based upon our own sense of right and wrong. That does not give us the right to decide which laws we will obey and which will not obey. To act in such a manner puts us upon a slippery slope that invalidates the social contract that we all have with one another. Current immigration law is not immoral, and it is not unjust. The injustice committed to “undocumented” students was committed by their parents when they decided to enter our country in violation of federal and international law. They placed their children in this untenable position. If we want to create a path to citizenship for this group of illegal aliens then we need to pursue the democratic process to change our laws. We owe respect to this process to all of our fellow citizens.

Donna Carrol's words resonate in the DNA of what it means to be a Dominican, to speak words of truth and justice as we embrace the mercy of God. Thank you, Donna.

I am a student at Dominican University and reading this just puts joy in my heart. President Donna Carroll is full of compassion and so much wisdom. I aspire to be her when I'm older and lead with such a big heart in all that I do.