Austin churches offer ‘sanctuary’

Home for migrants

AUSTIN, Texas, March 25, (AP): Senior Minister Meg Barnhouse knows she’ll need beds, a dresser, chairs and a mirror to make the classroom at the First Unitarian Universalist Church of Austin feel more like a home for a mother and her young daughter who are still deciding whether they will become the latest immigrants seeking sanctuary from deportation by moving into a church. It would be the second time Barnhouse’s congregation had offered sanctuary. She was hesitant in 2015 because of the unknown legal and insurance risks, but this time she agreed immediately.

There is growing fear in the city’s immigrant community as President Donald Trump’s immigration and executive orders go into effect. And as more than 50 Austin area residents were detained in US Immigration and Customs Enforcement deportation raids last month, a growing number of churches in the Austin Sanctuary Network are volunteering to offer physical shelter or support to churches that do.

The Austin Sanctuary Network has broadened in the last year from a handful of churches and advocates to more than two dozen congregations and religious groups, three labor unions, several nonprofit groups and dozens of individual volunteers. This mirrors the loosely organized national sanctuary movement that has grown to more than 800 churches and congregations, with a good portion of those joining since Trump was elected.

“It’s bewildering for people at this point. It’s like trying to repair furniture when the house is on fire,” said Pastor Jim Rigby, whose congregation at St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church in Austin has provided sanctuary to Guatemalan immigrant Hilda Ramirez and her 10-year-old son, Ivan, for more than a year . “Opening our arms to our neighbors goes without question.”

Pastor Laura Walter’s small Presbyterian congregation in Bee Cave, 12 miles west of Austin, hopes her church can expand the network to reach immigrant communities outside city limits. They are still discussing whether the small church has room to offer shelter or whether they could get a permit to build a temporary shower.

“Our faith calls us to live this out,” Walters said. “In the near future we’ll be at the very least helping support refugees and asylum seekers.”

The churches are relying on a 2011 ICE policy directive telling agents to avoid “sensitive areas” such as churches, hospitals and schools when conducting deportation actions under most circumstances. Federal immigration officials said that policy is still in effect, but recent immigration arrests around the US, including inside courthouses, are increasing fears.

Barnhouse