New twist on the "sanctuary" movement.

During the 1980s, many liberal congregations proclaimed themselves to be "sanctuaries" for illegal immigrants. Now, some nominally conservative Republicans and at least one conservative denomination have developed a different, more limited, version of the "sanctuary" concept.

"The Mormon church arranged for a Utah senator to write a law to shield churches from prosecution for knowingly allowing illegal aliens to be ministers or do volunteer missionary work for them," reported the November 28 Washington Times. At the behest of church lobbyists, Republican Senator Robert Bennett, chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, quietly inserted an amendment to the agriculture appropriations bill that was signed into law on November 10.

Kim Farah, a spokeswoman for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (the church's official name), described the amendment as a "narrow exception to the immigration act." "The law permits churches to use the volunteer services of their undocumented members by insulating the churches from criminal sanctions for doing so," she said.

Senator Bennett claims that he consulted with the Department of Homeland Security before introducing his amendment. However, the department now claims that it wants to reexamine that amendment. Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-Colo.) has introduced a bill to repeal Bennett's exception, observing that it "removes an important legal tool for law enforcement and at the same time allows groups that would do us harm to legally conceal and transport people whom they know are in the United States illegally."

Rep. Tancredo's office, reported the Times, "has identified several examples of mosques and Muslim-related charities that have had illegal aliens as their leaders, including a mosque in California with two leaders who had stayed past the expiration of their visas. The men were both being investigated for potential ties to terrorism, but were deported on immigration charges."