Reverend W. Ouellette thought it was a good idea to ask how many Dreamers are in prison, in response to Texas Congressman Joaquin Castro, who was speaking out against putting a stop to DACA.
Ouellette deleted the tweet, but the reverend forgot that this is the internet, and the internet never forgets. Author Osha Davidson took a screenshot of it.
When you profess yourself as a religious or spiritual person, you’re going to inevitably be held to a higher standard than regular people, and this is especially true when it comes to matters of public opinion. If you’re a “religious” individual, then you really shouldn’t be going online demostrating hatred or animosity towards certain groups.
It’s clear that the reverend did not consider his status as a “religious authority” when spewing out this prejudiced remark.
Osha Davidson did not hesitate to shut down the hater, and questioned the reverend’s morning coffee selection.
The DACA program doesn’t necessarily allow for anyone to have a clear path to permanent residence in the U.S. It just allows them to defer their deportation for two years, and they have to keep reapplying to stay in the U.S. every two years after that.
Being that DACA is an immigration policy that grants some level of clemency to immigrants who are just looking to educate themselves and work tax-paying jobs in the United States, President Trump seemingly had a problem with it and vowed to abolish the program during his campaign. Trump’s made his opinions on illegal immigrants from Mexico pretty clear well before he was elected, and since the majority of Dreamers are from Mexico, you can imagine the way far-right supporters are spinning the DACA narrative to argue for abolishing the program.
Reverend W. Oullette thought it was a good strategy on Twitter to call out Congressman Joaquin Castro, who announced his support of DACA and urged the Trump administration not to discontinue it, by asking how many of the “Dreamers” are in prison, as you can see in the screenshot above. But Castro had an incredibly classy and simple response.
None, Pastor. They can't be to qualify for #DACA. May God bless you. https://t.co/juMQgVBe16
— Joaquin Castro (@JoaquinCastrotx) September 4, 2017
The pastor probably deleted the tweet because he realized he should do some basic research on Google before making discriminatory assumptions.
Here are some other interesting facts Oullett should’ve probably researched before making a fool of himself, courtesy of Will Donelly.
Avg DACA recipient is 26 & came to US at age 6
91% are employed
100% have no criminal record
They pay $500 to renew every 2 yrs ($800M)
— Facts Do Matter (@WilDonnelly) September 2, 2017
DACA allows illegal immigrants under the age of 16 living, and have done so since June 15, 2007 to legally obtain driver’s licenses, apply for jobs, and enroll in college. Homeland Security enacted the policy in 2012 and nearly 800,000 Dreamers have enrolled in the program.
It’s pretty easy to dismantle a hateful accusation when facts are on your side. With Congress now deciding the fate of the more than 800,000 DACA beneficiaries, it’s more important now than it ever was to show not only compassion, but good sense and take a look at all the facts before drawing conclusions. Precisely what the reverend should have done.