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 Editorials | Issues | June 2007 
Illegal Immigrant Invokes Church Sanctuary
 Louis Sahagun - LATimes
| | Elvira Arellano drinks juice in her apartment inside Adalberto United Methodist Church in Chicago April 18, 2007. (John Gress/Reuters) |
Sanctuary, the practice of providing refuge in a sacred place, has been revived in dramatic fashion by an undocumented Mexican cleaning woman trying to evade deportation by holing up in a Chicago church.
Elvira Arellano, 32, said she invoked the ancient right of sanctuary in a desperate effort to avoid being separated from her 7-year-old son, Saul, an American citizen.
That was nine months and 18 days ago. Since then, her act of civil disobedience has helped spark a "new sanctuary movement" and transformed her into a leader in the effort to create a path to citizenship for the nation's estimated 12 million illegal immigrants.
Her maneuver has focused renewed attention on a tactic used through the ages to hold back the force of government.
In a telephone interview, Arellano said in Spanish language, "I never planned for this."
When the order for deportation came down, she said, "I was desperate. I remembered how Joseph and Mary were given sanctuary. I asked my church for sanctuary, and they agreed."
Arellano became a focus of international attention when, from the safe haven of the little church, she began dispatching high-profile rebukes of immigration authorities. One of her first letters posted on the Internet said, "If Homeland Security chooses to send its agents on the Holy Ground to arrest me, then I will know that God wants me to be an example of the hatred and hypocrisy of the current policy of the government."
Immigration and Customs Enforcement authorities issued a brief comment: "ICE has the authority to arrest illegal aliens in all locales and prioritizes its enforcement efforts based on investigative leads and intelligence."
From ancient times through the 18th century, the practice of religious sanctuary was common. Cities and surrounding territories were dotted with sanctuaries protected by walls or border stones separating the holy space within from the reach of local laws.
Around 1750, various countries began abolishing sanctuary as civil judicial systems arose to try those accused of crimes. It took about 100 years for sanctuary to disappear.
Today, the right of sanctuary has no legal standing in the United States. Nonetheless, it was invoked in the early 1980s to prevent thousands of Central American refugees from being deported.
Supporters believed federal officers were less likely to barge into a church and drag out undocumented people than to enter a home or workplace.
"It was a much different human-rights crisis than the one we are faced with now," said the Rev. John Fife, a leader of the 1982 interdenominational sanctuary movement in Tucson .
Fife was among 10 members of the sanctuary movement who were convicted of violating federal immigration laws in 1985 and served probation sentences of up to 10 years.
The new sanctuary movement inspired by Arellano was a response to immigration raids that have broken apart hundreds of undocumented families.
Participants are offered financial, spiritual, and pro bono legal services by supportive congregations and, only if necessary, a physical space that guarantees compassion and protection.
Among those who oppose the practice is Barbara Coe, founder of the California Coalition for Immigration Reform, which is dedicated to ending what she described as "the immigration invasion destroying our nation."
"These churches are harboring criminals, and they should lose their federal nonprofit tax status, which strictly forbids engaging in political activity with tax dollars," Coe said. "If their point is to prevent separation of undocumented families, I have a simple solution: These families can take their entire families with them."
That kind of talk worries Arellano, who spends most days tending a small "garden of hope" - cilantro, jalapeno peppers, onions, tomatoes, and flowers - and, as she put it, "spreading the word on the Internet and in daily interviews with reporters from around the world."
Over the past nine months, she has been visited by more than 7,000 people, some of whom traveled from as far away as South Korea, where the Roman Catholic Church has played an important role in a sanctuary movement.
"Sanctuary is a powerful tool," Arellano said. "I will remain in this church for as long as necessary." |
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