Thursday, January 19, 2017

Southern Arizona Sanctuary Movement Makes a Statement

Posted By on Thu, Jan 19, 2017 at 3:22 PM

Trump's anti-immigrant rhetoric and his campaign promise to deport as many undocumented immigrants as he can has helped give the nation's church-led sanctuary movement a rebirth. And it's fitting that Tucson, the birthplace of the modern sanctuary movement, should be involved.

Reporter Paul Ingram has an excellent article on the history of the modern sanctuary movement and its current activity in the Tucson Sentinel. That's where you should go for more details. Here are the first few paragraphs of his article.
With the inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump just days away, religious leaders from 19 congregations in Tucson announced Wednesday that they were committed to "radical welcome," as part of a reborn Sanctuary movement determined to shelter refugees and unauthorized immigrants from deportation.

Nearly 100 people filled benches in the kiva-style sanctuary at Southside Presbyterian Church and listened as church pastor Rev. Allison Harrington announced that the church would join "Sanctuary Rising," a movement involving 700 religious congregations nationwide whose members agreed to buck several of Trump's proposed policies, including the immediate deportation of millions of undocumented immigrants.

Church members agreed to work against the incoming Trump administration's plan to create a "special deportation force" and quickly deport 2-3 million illegal aliens.

"As people of faith and people of conscience, we pledge to resist the newly elected administration's policy proposals to target and deport millions of undocumented immigrants and discriminate against marginalized communities," Harrington said, reading the pledge. "Tonight we come together in this new historical moment," she said. "And we commit ourselves to love and justice, and radical welcome."

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