It has always seemed especially unfair that undocumented youth cannot fully participate in our community. STRESS, UNCERTAINTY AND TRUNCATED OPPORTUNITIES We will suggest ways that health care professionals and institutions, in general, and those in Catholic health care in particular, can advocate for them. In particular, we will make a case that they are denied opportunities to fulfill their potential as members of the community and relegated to daily uncertainty. We will outline the challenges undocumented young people face and their unique vulnerabilities. They behave as if they are implicitly "earning citizenship." 2 Unfortunately, while such legislation that would create a pathway to citizenship has come close to passage on several occasions since 1986, none has become law. As a result, many undocumented youth spend years just getting by while remaining hopeful that our government will reward their contributions to our economy and society with legislation that will create a pathway to citizenship. Depending on a number of factors, most or all of these things may be virtually impossible. Being undocumented determines a person's prospects for employment, a driver's license, health insurance, a higher education degree, and many other opportunities often taken for granted. 1 Gonzales dubbed being an undocumented immigrant a "master status" because it affects virtually everything one does. Harvard sociologist Roberto Gonzales first articulated this reality in his book, Lives in Limbo. Undocumented youth live in limbo in the United States. They made no choices that have caused this situation. As they lived their brief lives as children, they cannot be responsible for their unbaptized state. Moreover, our sense of justice is offended by the seeming unfairness of this sentence. Imagining the souls of babies and children existing in isolation and going uncomforted is heartbreaking. After all, we are created for union with God and others. While we often think of limbo as nothingness and neutral, it is also sometimes theologically postulated as the outer ring of hell. Because the babies lacked initiation into the Christian community, they were denied the fullness of salvation including a spot in heaven. Many Catholics grew up hearing the medieval theological lore about limbo, a place where unbaptized babies go to spend eternity.
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