Sanctuary

Standing with Families at Risk of Separation

"But Boaz answered her, ‘All that you have done for your mother-in-law ... how you left your father and mother and your native land and came to a people that you did not know before. May the Lord reward you for your deeds, and may you have a full reward from the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come for refuge!’”

Ruth 2:11–12

Throughout history, the people of God have provided safe space in their places of worship for those vulnerable under the laws and customs of the time. The Hebrew people had cities of refuge for people wrongfully accused of crimes. In the years before the American Civil War, congregations provided safety for slaves fleeing the South in the Underground Railroad. In the 1980s, more than 500 U.S. congregations provided safe houses to Central Americans fleeing civil war but whom our government refused to acknowledge as refugees.

Today, churches are providing sanctuary to people with final orders of deportation. Law-abiding parents and workers caught in the clutches of a broken immigration system are entering houses of worship to fight their orders of deportation from a safe space. Congregations are standing with families at risk of separation.

Eleven million undocumented people are living in the United States, the majority of whom have lived here for more than 10 years. They are our friends, neighbors, and family members. All are at risk of deportation.

Year after year, Congress refuses to pass immigration reform. Meanwhile, the U.S. continues to fund a $30 billion per year immigration enforcement system that continues to deport people with significant ties in the U.S. The film “Journeying in Hope” captures the strife felt by families and ministries on the border that are offering witness and support in the midst of this crisis.

Many church communities refuse to sit by and watch another family torn apart. Congregations are standing alongside members of their church and community by assisting in the preparation of family care plans and forming communities of advocacy and support who provide accompaniment to court and advocacy to agencies and people in power. These acts of solidarity are, sometimes, enough to stop unjust deportations. When they are not, some bodies of faith are offering sanctuary.

Explore Further:

”Journeying in Hope”
A film by the Office of Immigration Issues

Unauthorized Immigrants Today
From the American Immigration Council

The Fallacy of ”Enforcement First”
From the American Immigration Council

A Decade of Rising Immigration Enforcement
From the American Immigration Council

This is a question a session needs to discuss thoroughly with an attorney before a church offers sanctuary. Congregations that offer sanctuary can certainly be charged with the crime of harboring, but could they be convicted? While the congregations offering sanctuary today are not bringing individuals into the country, there is a question of whether they are harboring. The law forbids the act of harboring someone in a building who is known to be remaining in the U.S. in violation of the law. Some courts have held that harboring requires that the person being charged actually hide the person remaining in violation of the law. If harboring does require hiding or concealing a person, these churches are not in violation because they are all publicly calling on the government to rectify the final order of deportation of the person living in sanctuary. Unfortunately, there is also case law that defines the act of harboring as providing shelter. If simple shelter with no concealment is harboring, then all the churches offering sanctuary and any family member or friend with an undocumented person within their household is in violation of the harboring statute. While we pray this is not the case, both decisions with their conflicting definitions need to be considered.

Explore Further

U.S. v. Costello
Court case regarding someone who was charged with harboring.

U.S. v. Evans
Court case regarding someone who was charged with harboring.

Reports & Study Guides

Welcome and the Law

This resource provides an overview of what actions could be viewed as disobedience and the serious responsibility and legal consequences that comes with those acts as mid councils, congregations, and members discern how to be the church to all of God’s children. In the resource, law is quoted and followed by a list of the various ways different courts have interpreted the law. 

The Journey to Sanctuary

Deciding to Enter Sanctuary

Individuals with final orders of deportation may decide to enter a place of worship to advocate for forms of immigration relief from a place of safety. Such a decision is a personal one that should be made after consulting with an attorney. There are so many factors to take into consideration, including personal safety, health needs, family, employment, available immigration legal remedies, the ethos of the worshiping community offering sanctuary, community support for sanctuary, and much more.

Deciding to Offer Sanctuary

The decision to offer sanctuary should not be taken lightly. It requires more than just an understanding of U.S. immigration policy. It is more than a public witness. It is a relationship. Cultivating partnerships in the community, exploring one’s theological convictions, understanding of one’s own privilege, and committing as a congregation to the care and nurture of the individual in sanctuary are key to the health of this relationship.

Advice to Congregations Discerning Sanctuary

Out of their experience, Forest Hill Church Presbyterian and Leonor Garcia offer guidance about what to work through when discerning, why it is important to take the time to discern, and the significance of the decision.

Publications & Periodicals

Sanctuary: A Discernment Guide For Congregations

The Office of Public Witness has created a resource, Sanctuary: A Discernment Guide For Congregations.    

Life Together — highs, lows, and transformation — for the duration

A person’s need for sanctuary can be resolved in two weeks or ongoing for years. A life will be unfolding within the walls of a sacred space. Family life, health issues, and celebrations will be experienced by the person in sanctuary while the day-to-day faith-life of the congregation is going on around them. How do you prepare for this life together and how do you open yourself up for how you will all be changed?