New York Joins New Sanctuary Movement

Yesterday, New York and other cities joined the New Sanctuary Movement. The movement, with its roots in the 1980s movement in which churches harbored Central American refugees fleeing wars in their home countries. The Rev. Donna Schaper of Judson Memorial Church located near Washington Square Park clarified what this meant:

"...providing spiritual, moral, sometimes material and sometimes legal assistance to people who are either unjustly detained or deported."

Churches in the Los Angeles area are taking the idea of offering sanctuary very literally, by offering physical safety to at least two undocumented immigrants. The feeling is that Immigration officials will not go into houses of worship to arrest people. Take for example the case of Mexican immigrant Elvira Arellano, who has been inside a Chicago church since last August with a deportation order over her head.

Image : El Diario/La Prensa

Links : El Diario/La Prensa, Sign on San Diego, VivirLatino