Rev. Alexia Salvatierra: a church leader of the new sanctuary movement talks about immigrant rights and how sanctuary is set to take off in 50 more cities nationwide.How does sanctuary actually work? Networks of congregations and interfaith in·ter·faith adj. Of, relating to, or involving persons of different religious faiths: an interfaith marriage; an interfaith forum. coalitions contact us. Local councils of churches or interfaith coalitions call us, and we help them through the steps; they find an appropriate family, provide legal support. And we can help with references, but they have to make it happen. We're also willing to send somebody [to the church]. But they have to be ready to take care of the family, plan how they will advocate with Immigration immigration, entrance of a person (an alien) into a new country for the purpose of establishing permanent residence. Motives for immigration, like those for migration generally, are often economic, although religious or political factors may be very important. and Customs Enforcement (ICE), how to raise the funds to support the family and how to emotionally support the family, provide tutoring for the kids, provide education for their congregations. We were surprised by the number of cities that are interested. But it's hard to get from the initial interest to actually doing sanctuary. There are so many obstacles and barriers. The laws are really draconian dra·co·ni·an adj. Exceedingly harsh; very severe: a draconian legal code; draconian budget cuts. [After Draco. , much worse than they used to be. The courage it takes for someone to go public is huge. We try to help them go through the spiritual process to see whether this is right for them. One of our sanctuary cases is a leader in his community, owns his own business. He's had a deportation order deportation order n → orden f de expulsión or deportación deportation order n → arrêté m d'expulsion deportation order for years, but he had it quietly ... so he said to us, "You don't know Don't know (DK, DKed) "Don't know the trade." A Street expression used whenever one party lacks knowledge of a trade or receives conflicting instructions from the other party. what it's like to live every day waiting for the knock at the door. I decided to stop running and turn around and fight." What's been the reaction to the new sanctuary movement The Sanctuary movement was a religious and political movement of approximately 500 congregations in the U.S. that helped Central American refugees by sheltering them from Immigration and Naturalization Service authorities. The movement flourished between 1982 and 1992. , and what impact do you hope to have? We've had a thousand calls, 400 stories written or shown; we feel like that really has an impact. There has been second-level media too--CNN did a pro-and-con pundits talking about us. It's become part of the public discourse, which was what we wanted, because then the moral questions around immigration and the breaking up of families come out. Our real goal has been to make visible those who are not visible. We awaken the moral imagination of the country and reveal the suffering. It's hard to measure national impact. When we launched our last family in Long Beach, Fox News was doing this big special on ICE, traveling with ICE on the raids. But they decided it would be a fun wrinkle Wrinkle A feature of a new product or security intended to entice a buyer. to throw in a thing about sanctuary. So the reporter talked to me for a little bit, and then he talked to the priest of the congregation, and then he talked to the husband of the woman in sanctuary, and the woman herself. By the time he was done, he had been there over an hour. He was saying to me, "Does this happen a lot, does this really happen to people?" He could see the injustice, and he was upset about it. There's nothing like the stories of real people to change people's hearts and minds. And that's what we're about. How does this movement compare to the 1980s sanctuary movement? I was part of that. In fact, it was a very important part of my life as a young person. I watched my pastor go to jail. It made a big impression on me. They were really a true example of the biblical concept of sanctuary. It was a divine law Noun 1. divine law - a law that is believed to come directly from God natural law, law - a rule or body of rules of conduct inherent in human nature and essential to or binding upon human society to the ancient people of Israel. If somebody had done something that could be viewed as a crime, but the reaction to the crime was an unjust UNJUST. That which is done against the perfect rights of another; that which is against the established law; that which is opposed to a law which is the test of right and wrong. 1 Toull. tit. prel. n. 5; Aust. Jur. 276, n.; Hein. Lec. El. Sec. 1080. reaction, they could run to the city of refuge City of Refuge may refer to:
The original sanctuary movement was clearly that situation--people were fleeing to this country and not getting a fair hearing for asylum. Today, because of the broken system, people are unable again to get a fair hearing. We want to protect them until they can get that. Where things are very different is that the first time around, people needed everything--food, shelter. And maybe there were only 13,000 of them. Now we've got 12 million people, and they don't need housing. They work full time, but what they need is just legal documentation. So the idea of people flooding into the congregation, what could we do for them? They would be sitting ducks Sitting Ducks is an iconic lithograph created by Michael Bedard in the late 1970s. It depicts a literal interpretation of the idiom "sitting duck". Three ducks are relaxing in the sun on white chairs by the poolside, one looks up and notices two bullet holes in the wall. for raids. This is a very different situation. What we've got to do is hope that by making these families visible, by taking a stand with them, then we can help change the laws. We can't do much for them in the meantime Adv. 1. in the meantime - during the intervening time; "meanwhile I will not think about the problem"; "meantime he was attentive to his other interests"; "in the meantime the police were notified" meantime, meanwhile , that's why the families that are coming forward are representative families, witnesses for what is happening. What do you think about the Senate immigration bill, and what relationship does sanctuary have to comprehensive reform? A central role of the religious community is to hold up an ideal. We are not policymakers. It's not appropriate for us to give divine sanction sanction, in law and ethics, any inducement to individuals or groups to follow or refrain from following a particular course of conduct. All societies impose sanctions on their members in order to encourage approved behavior. to one piece of legislation or strategy. We hold up all legislation to the divine standard to treat people with total respect as children of God, and we just keep demanding that. No matter what the legislation is. In terms of the current bill, our response is to look at how it affects families. Our calls to legislators have been: Do the best you can, don't give up. We're the prophet, we're not the compromisers. That's not our role in society. Our role is to never stop holding people's feet to the fire. What about the role of Black churches? The African Methodist Episcopal e·pis·co·pal adj. 1. Of or relating to a bishop. 2. Of, relating to, or involving church government by bishops. 3. Episcopal Of or relating to the Episcopal Church. group has been the strongest Black denomination Denomination The stated value found on financial instruments. Notes: This term applies to most financial instruments with monetary values. The denomination for bonds and securities would be face value or par value. on these issues, and we've had a number of the pastors who are very supportive. There's a lot of division in the Black church about this, but there's also a lot of understanding. I've had the privilege of helping to build those bridges, and I've really seen that when we begin to talk about what we have in common, we realize that every person is a citizen of heaven. How do you have the right to take away full citizenship from someone who is already a citizen? People have not had the full citizenship that they deserve--Blacks and immigrants. But we have to also recognize the objective conditions on the ground that foster competition between our people. What are the next steps toward a long-term vision? We've actually come a long way to where we are now in the battle for hearts and minds. Most people think there should be legalization LEGALIZATION. The act of making lawful. 2. By legalization, is also understood the act by which a judge or competent officer authenticates a record, or other matter, in order that the same may be lawfully read in evidence. Vide Authentication. . That's wonderful; we've done a great job. But now we have to do more, so when it's feasible again for legislation, we are in a position to get something better. In the religious community, we think in generations, and that's the way to think because that's how real change happens. Legislation is just the tip of the iceberg--there's deeper things going on under the surface. Tram Nguyen is the executive editor of ColorLines. |
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