Repeal of key immigration policy holds weighty implications for churches, Including PC(USA) congregations
Sensitive Locations Memo prevented Immigration and Customs Enforcement from operating within sensitive locations, including churches and schools
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Within hours of President Donald Trump assuming office last week, the president followed through on an oft-repeated campaign promise to crack down on immigration in the United States through a number of executive orders and other moves. One such action was the administration’s revocation of a Sensitive Locations Memo. Its removal will have a major impact on churches where immigrants worship or receive community care.
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Several iterations of the Sensitive Locations Memo have been issued over multiple administrations, beginning in 1993 with Commissioner James Puleo. The most recent version was released in 2021 by then-Secretary of Homeland Security, Alejandro Mayorkas.
The memo instructed Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection not to pursue unauthorized immigrants at or near locations “that would restrain people's access to essential services or engagement in essential activities." The policy’s protections extended to a number of locations that provide community services, including churches, schools, hospitals and shelters. With the memo’s repeal, law enforcement officials are encouraged to use their own discernment as far as apprehending individuals in and around these spaces. The full impact of the policy change on sanctuary efforts is still unclear.
Teresa Waggener, an attorney within the PC(USA)’s Office of Immigration Issues, emphasized how far-reaching the effects of this repeal are, explaining that it precludes immigrants from feeling safe to participate in community life and having their basic human dignity recognized. Many people will be afraid to send their kids to school or to attend worship at their churches.
The PC(USA) has long been committed to advocacy and support of immigrants, dating back at least to the Chinese Exclusion Act. In the 1980s, Southside Presbyterian Church in Tucson, Arizona, publicly defied federal immigration law and sheltered hundreds of Salvadorans fleeing war before passing them along to safe houses around the country. These efforts sparked a larger movement called the Sanctuary Movement of the 1980s, a network of support that organized and mobilized communities across the country to protect hundreds of thousands of migrants who sought protection in the United States and Canada.
Today, PC(USA) members represent a number of countries and immigration statuses. Additionally, individual congregations around the country have provided long-term shelter and protection to migrants facing the risk of deportation. Elsewhere, countless Presbyterian churches serve at-risk populations in a number of ways, through food banks, temporary shelters and other offerings.
Amanda Craft, Manager of Immigration Advocacy in the Office of Immigration Issues, points out that those who have participated in more traditional sanctuary were trained around the legalities of this ministry as they engaged in protecting individuals and families. However, church volunteers providing general services are often not aware of the risks under the current political environment.
Churches must now grapple with how they can provide support or safety to immigrants within their congregations and surrounding communities. In addition to the risks to immigrants themselves, churches also face the possibility of retaliatory violence from anti-immigrant forces.
Craft noted that there is no universal answer for how to move forward. She explained that how these realities look varies widely by community and geography and also have multiple intersections with other types of oppressions. Therefore, individuals, congregations, and mid councils should focus on how they can collaborate with local resources and efforts to engage in the most appropriate and effective ways for their context, Craft said.
In Grace Presbytery, staff are already looking for the best ways to respond to the new administration’s immigration policies. The Rev. Laura Walters serves as Coordinator of Community Engagement and Public Witness for Grace Presbytery. She put the word out asking if anyone else in Texas wanted to organize together around immigration advocacy, considering the Trump administration’s actions, and got many responses. She has been working to coordinate efforts with others in New Covenant and Tres Rios presbyteries along with other faith-based organizations around Texas.
This past weekend, Walters attended a United Women in Faith event hosted by the Austin-based interfaith advocacy organization, Texas Impact. The event touched on a multitude of justice issues impacted by the administration change, including immigration. Walters said it’s overwhelming how many executive orders and bills are coming out, and she anticipates that Texas state government may want to go even further than the Trump administration in its efforts to curb unauthorized immigration.
Still, Walters said she’s heartened by seeing how many people of faith are committed and engaged in these efforts, noting that there were hundreds of people at the Texas Impact event and that she’s connected with activists all over the state. While the work needed on the border may look different than at the Texas Panhandle, Walters emphasized the value of sharing information and keeping each other informed because there are still areas of overlap.
She also highlighted that, along with community organizing and civic engagement, building consensus among Christians around prayer and scripture is a crucial component that cannot be forgotten.
“It also provides a different visual than Christian nationalism,” Walters said.
Craft and Waggener also pointed to the importance of prayer as a connection point even across disparate contexts where the actions needed may vary. They said one question worth asking is, “How can we all hold one another in prayer even as we engage this work in our own communities?”
For more information about how to care for members and loved ones at risk, go here.
For more information about sanctuary ministries, click here.
A recording of an immigration rights webinar put on by the Immigration Legal Resource Center is here.
Learn more about the impact of rescinding the Sensitive Locations Memos and its impact on schools, churches and nonprofits by going here.
See how a Chicago church's efforts to support immigrants has grown over the decades.
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