Sanctuary movement leaders sue U.S., claiming religious rights violated
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Communities and congregations around the country, some spurred to action by anti-immigrant rhetoric in 2016, are working together to assist immigrants who are fighting deportation. File Photo by Justin Hamel/UPI | License Photo
Feb. 1 (UPI) Four women who came to the United States seeking asylum from persecution in their home countries allege in a federal lawsuit that Trump administration officials targeted them with exorbitant civil fines because they took sanctuary in churches and spoke out against unjust and punitive deportation orders.
The Austin Sanctuary Network in Texas and the Philadelphia-based Free Migration Project also are plaintiffs in the suit, which was filed in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 19, the day before President Joe Biden took the oath of office. Officials with the Department of Homeland Security and Immigration and Customs Enforcement are named as defe
with nowhere else to go, daniel turned to the church. we re standing here in front of southside presbyterian church here in tucson, arizona, where they re leading a movement to offer sanctuary to undocumented immigrants who are under threat of deportation. daniel has been holed up here inside of the church since may 13th when federal agents issued a final order of deportation against him. daniel, if you had a chance to talk to president obama, what would you say to him? [ speaking spanish ] it s not good enough to say we won t come to the church and drag him out. we should hope that that would never be an option for officers of the united states.
daniel is an integral member of the tucson community. he s one of us. he deserves to stay. our community would be outraged if law enforcement officials came into the sanctuary of the church to arrest daniel. reporter: southside presbyterian has a history of offering sanctuary to immigrants. the church spawned a nationwide movement in the 80s taking central american refugees who were fleeing from violence in their home country. right here at southside presbyterian church we are in the birth place of the sanctuary movement so it s part of our legacy that we would offer hospitality to someone who is in fear of being separated from their family. reporter: the room where daniel has been living was reverend harrington s old office. for nearly a month the cramped space became a makeshift bedroom for daniel, his son carlos and his wife, carla. so have you and your mom lived here this entire time too? not me. i go to my grandma s sometimes
incumbents in the house of representatives, which is why the political world was shocked when eric cantor was defeated on tuesday pie primary challenger david brat. a virtual unknown. an econ professor who raised just $200,000 to unseat one of the most powerful political figures in the country. not only did cantor lose, he lost big. 11 percentage points big. cantor s loss was the first time in history a house majority leader lost in a primary. immediately the political world began looking for an explanation, and one of the first explanations that has emerged for this historic defeat is about how the issue of immigration played into the campaign. it seems that immigration had a critical role in a virginia primary. virginia. not some border state, virginia. i mean the last time virginia was anything like a border state was during the civil war in the 1860s when it bordered the union and the confederacy. when i grew up in virginia in the 70s and 80s, the immigrants we learned