An entire Lutheran denomination has declared itself a ‘sanctuary church body,’ signaling support for immigrants

From The Washington Post-

More than 500 years ago, a monk named Martin Luther nailed 95 theses outlining his grievances with the Roman Catholic Church to the door of a church in Wittenberg, Germany.

On Wednesday afternoon, members of the mainline Protestant denomination bearing Luther’s name taped 9.5 theses — expressing their concern for immigrants and refugees — to the door of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement building in Milwaukee.

The action was part of a prayer vigil for migrant children and their families during the ELCA Churchwide Assembly this week at Milwaukee’s Wisconsin Center.

It took place on the same day the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America declared itself a “sanctuary church body,” signaling its support for immigrants.

More here-

https://www.washingtonpost.com/religion/2019/08/08/an-entire-lutheran-denomination-has-declared-itself-sanctuary-church-body-signaling-support-immigrants/?fbclid=IwAR3qN0IbqDjMDUNIVQCOowxPe49N-4UDdx6eR6hxoli1hITSJkd8H8mxsNA

L.A. churches declaring themselves sanctuaries for migrant families amid expected ICE raids

From Los Angeles-

Several churches in the Los Angeles area have declared themselves sanctuaries for migrant families.

They condemn potential raids and are welcoming any refugees with open arms. At least a dozen churches in the area are offering sanctuary to immigrants.

"We need to have a way of providing for people who are fleeing violence, who are fleeing when they cannot tend to their families, when people are so desperate they are willing to risk their lives," said Rev. Sunny Kang of the United University Church.

Many church members at All Saints Episcopal Church in Pasadena didn't show up for Sunday services for fear of the raids and possible arrests by ICE agents, according to a member from the congregation's immigration task force.

More here-

https://abc7.com/society/la-churches-offering-sanctuary-amid-expected-ice-raids/5395986/ 

and here-

https://laist.com/2019/07/14/lincoln_heights_churchgoers_say_threat_of_ice_raids_are_scaring_people_away.php

Seattle church offers sanctuary to man facing deportation

From Seattle-

A Seattle church is providing sanctuary to a construction company owner who came to the U.S. from Mexico illegally years ago.

Jaime Rubio Sulficio had been ordered to leave the country by March 28 but on Friday took sanctuary at Seattle’s St. Mark’s Episcopal Cathedral.

The move is intended to take advantage of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement guidelines to avoid arrests at sensitive locations such as places of worship while he works with lawyers to seek a legal remedy to his immigration status.

Rubio Sulficio said the decision was not easy, and he and his wife Keiko Maruyama agonized for months over the move. His wife and his 6-year-old son are both U.S. citizens, and the family wanted to remain together.

“Thinking of him growing up without me around breaks my heart,” Rubio Sulficio said.

More here-

https://www.columbian.com/news/2019/mar/30/seattle-church-offers-sanctuary-to-man-facing-deportation/

Mother who sought sanctuary in church basement is still there 2 years later

From NY Daily News-

Nearly two years ago Juana Tobar Ortega was ordered back to Guatemala by federal authorities, but that was not an option for the mother of four who arrived in the U.S. illegally 25 years ago.

Instead she packed up her belongings and headed to St. Barnabas Church near her Greensboro, North Carolina home, seeking sanctuary. She has been there ever since.

“We need to violate the law in order to do the right thing, and the right thing for me is to be a mother,” Ortega told NBC News earlier this month. “They’re laws created by men who don’t understand what it means to be a mother.”

Since Donald Trump took office as President in early 2017, non-criminal immigrants who arrived here illegally have been given the same treatment as those who’ve been convicted of crimes, according to NBC News. The U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE) has been cracking down on everyone regardless of their potential for violence.

More here-

 https://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/ny-news-sanctuary-church-basement-guatemala-20190303-story.html

Religious groups join suit against ‘sanctuary cities’ law

From Texas-

For the first time, religious groups have filed court briefs against the so-called sanctuary cities ban in Senate Bill 4, entering the fray in a lawsuit that seeks to prevent the implementation of the law, which they say will harm their faith communities.

The Episcopal Diocese of Texas, numerous individual religious leaders and a state interfaith organization asked the federal court in San Antonio on Sunday to consider their opposition to SB 4 when deciding on a request for an injunction that would prevent the law from being enforced beginning Sept. 1.

“SB 4 is contrary to the moral imperative that we love our neighbor, welcome the immigrant and care for the most vulnerable among us,” Bishop C. Andrew Doyle of the Episcopal Diocese of Texas said in a news release. “This law represents an anti-immigrant agenda that is born out of fear and promoted out of a sense of privilege, jeopardizing justice for everyone.”

More here-

http://www.mystatesman.com/news/state--regional-govt--politics/religious-groups-join-suit-against-sanctuary-cities-law/435G9Iyruq4CJC8rKf8PcM/

Woman, 2 children seek sanctuary from deportation at Greensboro church

From Greensboro NC-

A Winston-Salem woman and her two youngest children took sanctuary at a Greensboro church on Thursday morning to avoid deportation, marking at least the second such case in North Carolina.

Minerva Garcia, an immigrant from Mexico, and her two youngest sons, ages 6 and 3, will be living at Congregational United Church of Christ until she can get a stay of removal from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement that would delay her deportation.

Garcia came from Mexico to the U.S. 17 years ago with her oldest son Eduardo, now 21, and her second oldest son who died of cancer in 2007. She moved to the U.S. to find better educational opportunities for Eduardo, who is blind.

In 2013, Garcia obtained a stay of removal from ICE because her oldest son depends on her. Every year since, she’s received a stay of removal, until this year. During Garcia’s annual check-in with ICE in May, she received a deportation order to leave the country by June 30.
Read more here:

http://www.newsobserver.com/news/local/article158835604.html#storylink=cpy

also here-

http://www.wral.com/woman-facing-deportation-finds-sanctuary-in-greensboro-church/16793814/

Churches, immigrants, and sanctuary

From The Boston Globe-

For some immigrants now facing arrest or deportation because of their immigration status, there may be only one safe place left: a church.

Massachusetts experienced a first this week when an immigrant and her two children took refuge in a Harvard Square church.

Here is a look at the history of churches as a sanctuary, as well as examples of current immigrants seeking help in places of worship around the country.

The sanctuary movement serves to counter a crackdown on illegal immigration by the administration of President Trump. But the idea of sanctuary goes back to the time of the ancient Greeks and Romans, when accused criminals would flee to a temple to avoid authorities.

More here-

https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2017/06/01/churches-immigrants-and-sanctuary/Q1a640LlETPAwVpnkfBiEN/story.html

Churches vow to shelter immigrants

From Seattle-

Puget Sound-area faith leaders, gathered at St. Mark's Cathedral, delivered a May Day message of defiance to the Trump administration and a bid to put the ice on ICE raids targeting undocumented immigrants.

In a re-launching of the Sanctuary Movement, congregations pledged to serve as "places of respite and refuge on a short-term basis in the case of local raids, sweeps or communal fear of harassment or hate violence."

"We will welcome the outside, the stranger, the undocumented immigrant, the documented immigrant," said Father Antonio Illas of St. Matthew/San Mateo Episcopal Church in Auburn.

More here-

http://www.seattlepi.com/local/politics/article/Churches-in-May-Day-pledge-of-respite-and-11112559.php?cmpid=fb-desktop

An ethical analysis of the ‘New Sanctuary Movement’

Fro RNS-

The “New Sanctuary Movement” is under considerable discussion these days. What exactly people mean by “sanctuary” is not always clear, but the basic idea is to help undocumented immigrants in their struggle to avoid deportation under US immigration laws.

I encountered the first “Sanctuary Movement” in the 1980s, when some churches organized to shelter Salvadorans and Guatemalans who were at risk of being sent back to their violent and repressive homelands during the Reagan Administration. Since then the concept has never really gone away, and it is spiking today as the new Trump Administration has made clear its intent to heighten immigration-law enforcement.

In my role as interim pastor, I have been asked to consider affiliating our church with an organization called the “New Sanctuary Movement of Atlanta” (SMA). Moral issues look  different when you are not just cogitating but have leadership responsibility for a community or an organization.

More here-

http://religionnews.com/2017/03/19/analysis-new-sanctuary-movement/

Ohio mosque is first to join sanctuary movement

From The Deseret New-

A Cincinnati area mosque announced it would join the burgeoning church sanctuary movement in the U.S., possibly becoming the first Islamic house of worship to do so.

The announcement came on the eve of the inauguration of President Donald J. Trump, who took a hard-line stance on immigration and proposed a national Muslim registry during his campaign.

“It took us no time to decide that this was the ethical and moral thing to do,” said Imam Ismaeel Chartier, leader of the Clifton Mosque, which attracts upwards of 800 people to Friday prayers at its location near the Cincinnati Zoo. “We want to help reclaim humanity for everyone.”

More than 800 U.S. congregations have joined the sanctuary movement — a promise by churches, synagogues and now, mosques, to shield undocumented immigrants from deportation and other government actions, even to the point of violating the law. Rev. Noel Anderson of the Church World Service, which organizes the sanctuary movement, said the Clifton mosque is likely the first mosque to actually open its doors to undocumented immigrants, but that other mosques have supported the movement in other ways.

More here-

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865671680/Ohio-mosque-is-first-to-join-sanctuary-movement.html

Plan for Compassion

From The Living Church-

Long aligned with progressive causes, Augustana Lutheran Church in Portland, Oregon, did not hesitate when Pastor Mark Knutson announced 20 years ago that the church would be a “sanctuary congregation” where undocumented immigrants could avoid federal agents with warrants to deport them.

But that did not mean Augustana’s congregants were fully prepared when their commitment was suddenly tested in 2014.

With federal agents in pursuit of El Salvadoran national Francisco Aguirre, Augustana’s chancel was transformed overnight into a sleeping space. A husband, father, and local labor organizer, Aguirre also faced charges for drunken driving and illegal reentry after a prior deportation. How long he would be a 24/7 resident of the church was anybody’s guess.

More here-

http://www.livingchurch.org/plan-compassion