US presidential candidates visits woman taking sanctuary in a church; other Democratic candidates voice support
RNS An undocumented woman living in an Ohio church to avoid deportation met with Democratic presidential candidate Julián Castro on Tuesday , one of several Democratic White House hopefuls now signaling support for her cause and the New Sanctuary Movement. Castro visited Columbus Mennonite Church in Columbus, Ohio, to meet undocumented Mexican immigrant Edith Espinal ahead of […]
US denomination ELCA declares self a “sanctuary church body”, marches to ICE building in Milwaukee
RNS 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 – […]
ESSAY: MORE CENTRAL AMERICAN MIGRANTS TAKE SHELTER IN CHURCHES, RECALLING 1980S SANCTUARY MOVEMENT
In an article first published on The Conversation, MARIO GARCIA, of the University of California, Santa Barbara, looks at the history of the church-based sanctuary movement in the US…
Iraqi refugee in New Mexico leaves church sanctuary after two years
RNS Kadhim Al-bumohammed, a 66-year-old Muslim refugee from Iraq who trained tens of thousands of US soldiers in Arabic and Arab culture, walked out of an Albuquerque, New Mexico, church basement last month a free man. Al-bumohammed had spent two years inside of First Congregational United Church of Christ seeking sanctuary from deportation. Kadhim Al-bumohammed, […]
US sanctuary churches say fines against immigrants meant to sow fear
RNS About a dozen people taking refuge in sanctuary churches across the US received a letter from Immigration and Customs Enforcement earlier this week, informing them they owe hundreds of thousands of dollars in civil penalties for disobeying orders to leave the country. Among those was Rosa del Carmen Ortez Cruz, a 38-year-old mother of […]
LIFESTORY: WITH HER LIFE ON HOLD, AN IMMIGRANT WOMAN IN THE US MARKS TWO YEARS IN SANCTUARY
YONAT SHIMRON, of Religion News Service, meets Juana Luz Tobar Ortega…
ESSAY: ICE’S WAR ON CHRISTMAS
US Baptist minister and author JONATHAN WILSON-HARTGROVE, in an article first published on Religion News Service, writes about the impact of the Trump Administration’s “zero tolerance” immigration policy…
Fearing deportation, a third Indonesian Christian seeks sanctuary in US church
RNS New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy, right, speaks with parishioners at Highland Park Reformed Church on 25th January in Highland Park. Harry Pangemanan, left, an Indonesian man, claimed sanctuary at the church after ICE agents went to his front door. PICTURE: Bob Karp/USAToday. A third undocumented Indonesian has sought sanctuary in his New Jersey church, saying […]
IMMIGRATION: RESISTING TRUMP, US CHURCHES GIVE SANCTUARY TO IMMIGRANTS FACING DEPORTATION
YONAT SHIMRON, of Religion News Service, reports on how churches in the US are extending protection to immigrations facing deportation…
Sanctuary congregations have doubled since Trump election in the US, say faith leaders
RNS More than 800 congregations in the US have declared themselves sanctuaries for undocumented immigrants, about double the total on Election Day. Leaders of the sanctuary movement say the pace of churches and other houses of worship declaring themselves sanctuaries has quickened in the days leading up to the inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump on Friday. Mr Trump has […]