Sophia Cruz, 5, broke past security to reach Pope Francis while he was on his motorcade in Washington DC to deliver a message on immigration.
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– One of the memorable moments from Pope Francis’ visit to D.C. was the video that touched the hearts of many during Wednesday’s parade.
Cruz in turn gave Francis a letter she wrote, as well as the yellow T-shirt worn by the immigration reform advocacy group to which her father and uncles belong.
“My heart is sad”, Cruz said, “Because everyday I am scared they will take them away from me”.
A young girl from California delivered a message about immigration reform to Pope Francis on Wednesday and received a blessing in return for her efforts.
Sophie is the daughter of two undocumented immigrants and her drawing read, “My friends and I love each other no matter our skin color”.
“I believe I have the right to live with my parents”. They deserve to live with respect.
Though Sophia’s actions were not just spur of the moment – La Hermandad, in Los Angeles, chose her to approach the pope after a similar plan worked in Rome involving another little girl.
“I told him please help my dad because he is gonna be deported and it’s unfair that millions of children are also suffering in my same situation”, she recalled. If she had been unsuccessful in Washington attracting the pope’s attention, he said, she would have traveled with the group to New York and then Philadelphia to try again.
DAPA is only available for undocumented immigrants who have lived in the USA since January 1, 2010, had a child born on or before November. 20, 2014, pass a criminal background check and other criteria set by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
The Cruz family were among a group of a dozen faithful who travelled from Our Lady, Queen of the Angels parish in Los Angeles to see the Pope in Washington, D.C.
Petra Falcon was expecting something like a religious experience this week when she was invited to the White House reception for Pope Francis.
He added that they selected Sophie because they were impressed by her and thought she would make the best spokesperson. He engaged in a dialogue about he ongoing violence in the world, climate change, poverty, the death penalty, the immigrant and refugee crises, and recognized the U.S.as the “land of dreams”. Instead Francis – the first pontiff to address Congress and the first from Latin America – focused on immigration, the death penalty, racial injustice, the weapons trade, and poverty.
“We walked for the Pope and we wanted to encourage him to talk about the immigrant issue when he meets American leaders”, said the immigrant from Bolivia.
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In his speech to Congress on Thursday, Pope Francis touched on numerous policy positions, from opposition to the death penalty and abortion, from poverty to social justice, from environmental activism to refugee relief.
