Bottom Of The Barrel

New Sanctuary Movement

Liliana, a 29-year-old factory worker from Mexico who crossed the border illegally in 1998, was asked by federal immigration agents to return to Mexico back in May but she was given a 5 day stay because she has children, specifically a child who is still nursing. Since then, she has been hiding at the home of a Catholic deacon and his wife and last month she emerged from their home and took up residence at St. Luke's Episcopal Church [Long Beach California], which has pledged to protect her from deportation.

Is separation of church and state where the Government stays out of the churches business or the other way around? I always get that one confused. Anyway... The New Sanctuary Movement is a small but growing coalition of churches, synagogues and other houses of worship that is challenging the immigration system, despite legal risk, as the nation debates how to deal with the estimated 12 million illegal immigrants in the USA.

It seems that the immigration problem is only getting worse here and the New Sanctuary Movement is not making it better. It is bad enough that illegal immigration puts a strain on our economic, educational, legal, health care and other public systems now it appears to be beginning to strain our religious ones as well.

I acknowledge we have a big immigration problem here in the US but I'm not sure that giving religious asylum is a conduit for change but rather it might be seen as a road map for beating the system, until the system can be "fixed". Hopefully the New Sanctuary Movement does not get overwhelmed with illegal immigrants who recently had a baby and not want to return to their native lands.

posted by TheWino @ 9:11 AM