A United Methodist Church in Chicago is providing sanctuary to a single mother facing deportation. The AP reports:
CHICAGO -- Immigration activists around the country are taking up the cause of a single mother who invoked the ancient principle of sanctuary and took refuge in a Chicago church rather than submit to deportation to Mexico.
Elvira Arellano, 31, was holed up for a second day Wednesday at Aldalberto United Methodist Church with the support of the congregation's pastor. With her was son Saul, 7, a U.S. citizen.
Federal officials said there is no right to sanctuary in a church under U.S. law and nothing to prevent them from arresting her. But they would not say what they planned to do, or when.
"She is the face of the movement," said Emma Lozano, executive director of the Chicago immigration-rights group Centro Sin Fronteras, who was at the church with Arellano.
National United Methodist leaders, including Bishop Minerva Carcaño, are also providing support. From the United Methodist News Service:
"Here is an opportunity for a country that says they care about children to care for a child," said United Methodist Bishop Minerva Carcaño, on CNN's "Lou Dobbs Tonight" show Aug. 16.
Carcaño, bishop of the denomination's Phoenix Area, was in Chicago for the 2006 International Clergywomen's Consultation. She has been a spokesperson for the United Methodist Council of Bishops in calling for immigration reform.
"The United Methodist Church stands with families like Miss Arellano," she said. "It is an issue of justice that she be allowed to stay with her young son."
Carcaño, along with Bishop Hee-Soo Jung, Chicago Area, and the Rev. James Preston, Chicago Northwestern District superintendent, visited Arellano in the church Aug. 16.
"You could see the burden in her eyes," Carcaño said. "It was a very moving moment to see her surrounded by others in the community. She is acting out of the motives of a mother and her Christian convictions."
Jung released a statement that Arellano was invoking "the centuries-old Christian tradition of sanctuary" and "the tradition of civil disobedience."
"While as Christians we may disagree over the best way to fix the nation's broken immigration system, we affirm that the Bible directs us to care for foreigners in our midst (Exodus 23:9) and reminds us that we too are sojourners (Leviticus 25:23)," Jung said.
The church has said the current immigration bill in Congress is "unjust," Carcaño told Dobbs. "We are not talking about partisan politics; this is matter of moral justice."
Federal authorities have threatened to take Arellano by force but news reports now suggest they are backing off such plans. The president of the United States of America would be well served if he gave orders forbidding federal agents from forcibly entering a Christian church.
Let us offer prayers for all those involved.
