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Case 16.2: Churches as Sanctuaries
for the Undocumented
In recent months, immigration enforcement authorities in your state have strengthened
the ways immigration laws are enforced with stronger emphasis on discovering
Immigration, Refugees, and Border Control 479
who is undocumented and taking steps to deport them. As a result, many undocumented
immigrants are understandably fearful of being deported back to their
country of origin. They also fear being forcibly separated from their families, since
some of their children are citizens, by virtue of being born in the country. Your
city has designated itself as a “sanctuary city,” meaning that it will help undocumented
immigrants avoid detection and deportation, sometimes in defiance of
federal immigration laws. Your church has been involved with serving immigrant
communities in your area for several years in obedience to the biblical mandate
to care for the most vulnerable in the community. Your church provides literacy
skills, job training, and tutoring for education, as well as medical, dental, and legal
services. The church also runs regular Bible clubs for kids in the community. Local
leaders have consistently praised the churches who serve these people and have
credited your church and others serving like yours, for the decrease in the crime
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rate in the city. The families you know are hardworking and otherwise law-abiding
men and women, often with small children to support. The threat of deportation
for these families is real since most of them are not in the country legally. But you
recognize that the immigration laws are clearly broken and unfair in many ways.
Your church is considering becoming a sanctuary for some of the people who would
be facing deportation. You realize that in doing so your church would be violating
immigration law, but, in your view, to turn a blind eye to those