The Pope and President Obama are scheduled to meet tomorrow — and thanks to one Los Angeles girl, one of the things they talk about may be US deportations.
Last week, a delegation of 20 people from California traveled to the Vatican with the goal of meeting the pope and asking him to push the President on deportations. The trip was organized by the Full Rights for Immigrants Coalition, which said they planned to bring more than 1,000 letters to the pope, written by children of undocumented parents who have either been detained or deported.
This morning, 10-year-old Jersey Vargas, whose father faces deportation, was able to tell the pope her story, and receive a kiss and a blessing. As she told Fox News Latino about their encounter:
I told him to pray for my family and to ask the president to stop deportation because it’s separating my family. He blessed me and told me he would bring this up with President Obama…
I think he’ll talk to President Obama about it because it’s important to stop deporting people and breaking up families.
The pope has had specific comments about immigration and migrant rights before, saying last September:
Migrants and refugees are not pawns on the chessboard of humanity. They are children, women and men who leave or who are forced to leave their homes for various reasons, who share a legitimate desire for knowing and having, but above all, for being more.
