Number of Churches Offering Sanctuary in US Doubles

 

Since Donald Trump¹ was elected president, the number of churches in the United States declaring themselves sanctuaries² – or safe places – for undocumented immigrants has more than doubled.

However, few people are taking refuge in them.

After Trump’s victory last November, about 400 churches declared themselves sanctuaries. That brought the total number of sanctuary³ churches in the country to 800, according to the nonprofit group Church World Service.

The rise came after Trump said he wanted to deport⁴ millions of undocumented people from the United States.

However, many undocumented immigrants say they consider taking refuge in the churches a risky⁵ move.

Only 12 people are known to be taking refuge in these churches.

Ray Ybarra Maldonado is an immigration lawyer in Phoenix⁶, Arizona. He represents Mexican-born Guadalupe Garcia de Rayos. She was one of the first undocumented immigrants deported⁷ under Trump.

He says people who choose to take sanctuary in churches are “strong willed.” He calls such a decision a “personal sacrifice to make a larger statement towards immigration law.”

“It's not just about an individual staying here; it's something much bigger than that,” he said.

Mother granted a stay

Nury Chavarria is originally from Guatemala. She has four children. She is the most recent immigrant to publicly take sanctuary in a church.

This week, she was given a stay of deportation⁸. That is when an order of deportation is temporarily delayed. She had spent six nights in the Igelsia de Dios Pentecostal in New Haven⁹, Connecticut.

Chavarria has no criminal record. She was previously¹⁰ given a stay of removal for humanitarian¹¹ reasons, says Khaalid Walls, a spokesman for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE.

Chavarria applied¹² for asylum¹³ many years ago, but her application was denied. This June, ICE federal officials told her she had one month to leave the country and return to Guatemala.

Undocumented immigrants like Chavarria who take sanctuary never have promises of safety from deportation. However, ICE policy does discourage arrests at “sensitive locations.” This includes churches.

Immigrants resist offer

The idea of “sanctuary” is an old one. It comes from an ancient Judeo-Christian tradition. Today, some religious communities offer refuge to protest federal immigration policy.

Yet, immigrants do not always wish to accept churches’ offer of sanctuary. Garcia de Rayos, for example, decided¹⁴ against taking sanctuary in a church, her lawyer said.

Maldonado, the lawyer, said taking sanctuary is “almost like being incarcerated¹⁶. You can’t live the life you want to live.”

Garcia de Rayos followed the immigration rules. She knew deportation was likely. She was arrested when she arrived at her ICE check-in in February.

In the past, many immigrants had regular check-in meetings with ICE. They went to such meetings without fearing deportation. Under other administrations, undocumented people were not likely to be deported if they did not have a criminal record or were important to their community.

Attention brings help

Chavarria decided to take sanctuary so she could stay with her children, says Kica Matos, the director of immigrant rights at the Center for Community Change. The center represents Chavarria in court.

Chavarria received attention from Connecticut's two Democratic senators, Chris Murphy and Richard Blumenthal, as well as Governor Dannel Malloy. They all wanted to support her.

Another undocumented immigrant, Jeanette Vizguerra, also took sanctuary in a church. She spent 86 nights in a church in Denver, Colorado, before her application for a stay of deportation was approved in May.

Colorado Senator Michael Bennet and two other Democratic congressmen introduced a law that permitted her and another immigrant to remain in the United States until 2019.

While Vizguerra was in sanctuary, TIME magazine named her one of the most influential¹⁷ people of 2017.

The media attention was helpful for Vizguerra, Maldonado says.

“The more high profile you can make your case, the more you can show the government that the rest of the world is watching,” he said.

Vizguerra and Chavarria, however, are exceptions. There are currently 12 immigrants known to be living in churches. They are all hoping for some form of relief from deportation. But so far, they have not received any. This may discourage others from taking sanctuary.

Noel Anderson works on immigrants’ rights at Church World Service.

“There's a lot of fear in the community,” Anderson said. “The fear is that they could be stuck in a church for years on end, or if their story is public, they may be more of a target.”

I’m Jill Robbins.

Words in This Story

attorney - n. another word for lawyer

deport – v. to force (a person who is not a citizen) to leave a country

discourage – v. to make (someone) less determined¹⁸, hopeful, or confident

incarcerate¹⁵ – v. to put (someone) in prison

Judeo-Christian – adj. relating to both Judaism and Christianity

priority – n. something that is more important than other things and that needs to be done or dealt with first

high profile – adj. attracting a lot of attention in newspapers, on television, etc.

relief – n. a pleasant and relaxed feeling that someone has when something unpleasant stops or does not happen

1 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

2 sanctuaries   

n.避难所( sanctuary的名词复数 )；庇护；圣所；庇护所

参考例句：

• The designation of special marine reserves and marine sanctuaries shall be subject to the State Council for approval. 海洋特别保护区、海上自然保护区的确定，须经国务院批准。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• After 1965 he acquiesced when they established sanctuaries on that soil. 1965年以后，他默认了他们在那块土地上建立庇护所。 来自辞典例句

3 sanctuary   

n.圣所，圣堂，寺庙；禁猎区，保护区

参考例句：

• There was a sanctuary of political refugees behind the hospital.医院后面有一个政治难民的避难所。
• Most countries refuse to give sanctuary to people who hijack aeroplanes.大多数国家拒绝对劫机者提供庇护。

4 deport   

vt.驱逐出境

参考例句：

• We deport aliens who slip across our borders.我们把偷渡入境的外国人驱逐出境。
• More than 240 England football fans are being deported from Italy following riots last night.昨晚的骚乱发生后有240多名英格兰球迷被驱逐出意大利。

5 risky   

adj.有风险的，冒险的

参考例句：

• It may be risky but we will chance it anyhow.这可能有危险，但我们无论如何要冒一冒险。
• He is well aware how risky this investment is.他心里对这项投资的风险十分清楚。

6 phoenix   

n.凤凰，长生(不死)鸟；引申为重生

参考例句：

• The airline rose like a phoenix from the ashes.这家航空公司又起死回生了。
• The phoenix worship of China is fetish worship not totem adoration.中国凤崇拜是灵物崇拜而非图腾崇拜。

7 deported   

v.将…驱逐出境( deport的过去式和过去分词 )；举止

参考例句：

• They stripped me of my citizenship and deported me. 他们剥夺我的公民资格，将我驱逐出境。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The convicts were deported to a deserted island. 罪犯们被流放到一个荒岛。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 deportation   

n.驱逐，放逐

参考例句：

• The government issued a deportation order against the four men.政府发出了对那4名男子的驱逐令。
• Years ago convicted criminals in England could face deportation to Australia.很多年以前，英国已定罪的犯人可能被驱逐到澳大利亚。

9 haven   

n.安全的地方，避难所，庇护所

参考例句：

• It's a real haven at the end of a busy working day.忙碌了一整天后，这真是一个安乐窝。
• The school library is a little haven of peace and quiet.学校的图书馆是一个和平且安静的小避风港。

10 previously   

adv.以前，先前（地）

参考例句：

• The bicycle tyre blew out at a previously damaged point.自行车胎在以前损坏过的地方又爆开了。
• Let me digress for a moment and explain what had happened previously.让我岔开一会儿，解释原先发生了什么。

11 humanitarian   

n.人道主义者，博爱者，基督凡人论者

参考例句：

• She has many humanitarian interests and contributes a lot to them.她拥有很多慈善事业，并作了很大的贡献。
• The British government has now suspended humanitarian aid to the area.英国政府现已暂停对这一地区的人道主义援助。

12 applied   

adj.应用的；v.应用，适用

参考例句：

• She plans to take a course in applied linguistics.她打算学习应用语言学课程。
• This cream is best applied to the face at night.这种乳霜最好晚上擦脸用。

13 asylum   

n.避难所，庇护所，避难

参考例句：

• The people ask for political asylum.人们请求政治避难。
• Having sought asylum in the West for many years,they were eventually granted it.他们最终获得了在西方寻求多年的避难权。

14 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

15 incarcerate   

v.监禁，禁闭

参考例句：

• Why do you incarcerate yourself in the room every afternoon?你为何每天下午将自己关在房间里？
• Many people think that it is wrong to incarcerate criminals in confined quarters for as long as thirty years.很多人认为把罪犯监禁在禁闭营里达30年之久是不对的。

16 incarcerated   

钳闭的

参考例句：

• They were incarcerated for the duration of the war. 战争期间，他们被关在狱中。 来自辞典例句
• I don't want to worry them by being incarcerated. 我不想让他们知道我被拘禁的事情。 来自电影对白

17 influential   

adj.有影响的，有权势的

参考例句：

• He always tries to get in with the most influential people.他总是试图巴结最有影响的人物。
• He is a very influential man in the government.他在政府中是个很有影响的人物。

18 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

• I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
• He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。