Offering sanctuary?

Attorneys, pastor discuss churches’ interest in immigration law, related topics

Attorneys, pastor discuss churches’

interest in immigration law.

Metro congregations who may be considering becoming “sanctuary churches” should seek legal advice before taking their desire to aid undocumented immigrants to another level.

That was the advice that several local immigration attorneys gave to a crowd gathered recently at St. Paul’s Episcopal Cathedral, 127 NW 7.

The panel discussion and a question-andanswer period about immigration and refugees was the latest session in the cathedral’s “Evening of Listening” series.

Becoming a sanctuary church is such a serious matter that church congregations are mostly discussing it in private, said Rex Friend, one of the immigration attorneys who served as a panelist.

Friend said numerous church groups have asked him to speak on the subject of immigration law, sanctuary churches and other related topics in recent months. He said the keen interest in these topics was largely because ofPresident Donald Trump’s executive order calling for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement or ICE to step up its efforts to track down and deport undocumented immigrants.

Friend, who is a Quaker, said America draws people for many reasons, including economics, democracy and the “American dream,” and those same individuals are being pushed out of the country because ofpolitics and economics.

He said staying in the U.S. without proper documentation is illegal, but most undocumented immigrants see providing for their dependents as a “higher law.”

The Rev. Lori Walke, associate pastor of Mayflower Congregational United Church of Christ, said the idea of offering these immigrants some sort of sanctuary has become so popular with churches across the country that an organization called Insurance Board created a webinar for congregations to gain knowledge on the issue.

Insurance Board, a nonprofit corporation established by the participating conferences of the United Church of Christ, administers a property and liability insurance program serving churches and related entities within four denominations, including the United Church of Christ, Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), Presbyterian Church USA and Alliance of Baptists.

Walke said Mayflower church leaders invited their congregation to listen to the special webinar during the Sunday school hour on May 28, and about 100 people showed up for it.

Meanwhile, Friend and Walke were joined on

the panel by Richard Klinge, an immigration attorney with Catholic Charities of Oklahoma City.

Klinge saidsince the Trump administration’s decision regarding increased ICE enforcement, Catholic Charities has been inundated with requests to present “Know Your Rights” sessions for churches who wish to help immigrants gain more knowledge about U.S. immigration law and the president’s recent executive orders.

He said he has not only been making such presentations at local churches but also for educators at local schools and for hospitals, nonprofits and businesses, as well.

Klinge said he never thought that fear would be as pervasive in the immigrant community as it was after the 2007 implementation of a strict immigration law in Oklahoma known as House Bill 1804 or the Oklahoma Taxpayer and Citizen Protection Act of 2007.

However, he said the current fearful atmosphere has reached even more heightened proportions. “What I never thought was that we would come back to what we faced in 2007 in Oklahoma,” Klinge said.

What does U.S. law say about harboring an undocumented immigrant?

The Immigration and Nationality Act prohibits anyone from knowingly harboring, concealing or shielding from detection an undocumented immigrant “in any place, including any building or any means of transportation.” Those convicted of doing so risk imprisonment.

Meanwhile, The Associated Press has reported that spokesmen for the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement have said the agency follows a 2011 policy to generally avoid entering “sensitive locations” such as schools, places of worship and hospitals to take custody of immigrants in the country illegally. The AP reported that the policy says enforcement actions can be conducted in those locations in cases of terrorism or when there are “exigent circumstances.”

Sanctuary means different things

Walke said she wasn’t surprised that more churches are trying to familiarize themselves with immigration law as they decide how they might best serve immigrants in their communities.

She said churches are “doing their due diligence” on the matter partly because the country’s immigration laws are very complicated.

Walke said congregations’ queries about the law also have to do with the fact that there is no formal path to becoming a sanctuary church.

“Churches can do different things,” she said. Klinge agreed. “A sanctuary church can be a lot of things. Churches around the country are defining what that means,” he said.

Klinge said in the 1980s, there were federal and state laws that were used against the sanctuary movement. And he said historically, the federal government has taken a position against the sanctuary church.

In other cities across the country, like Denver, Phoenix and Chicago, church leaders have provided shelter to undocumented immigrants who felt their deportation was imminent.

Offering a physical refuge is the way many people typically describe the sanctuary movement, but there are other ways to offer assistance, the panelists said.

Klinge and Friend said coming to the aid of undocumented immigrants could mean a church could offer help to a satellite organization or group that is helping this targeted population in some way.

The attorneys also said churches could collaborate with other churches interested in helping undocumented immigrants, perhaps through legal assistance or some other aid.

The immigration attorneys also said it might be wise to develop a policy that would serve as guidelines for clergy and church members should U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers come knocking at the church doors.

Heeding Scripture

Walke told the crowd that Christian Scripture is “unequivocal” on how an immigrant, refugee — the stranger — is to be treated.

“They matter to God, and they matter to us,” she said.

“The biblical mandate is to pull out the welcome mat, not build walls. Jesus said not to evaluate worth based on skin color.”