It was within the law to require Jose Juan Hernandez to leave church one Sunday in Texas to be arrested on suspicion of illegal re-entry after deportation. The Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent was performing his sworn duty.
Yet such an arrest, unless to safeguard public safety, unnecessarily disregards the socially constructive tradition of churches as a place of both real and spiritual sanctuary.
Seven denominations have signed a Church World Service (CWS) letter [.pdf] of concern about the arrest to President Obama.
The letter makes three, reasonable requests:
First, make public the current “informal” ICE guidelines that have allowed agents to make arrests at churches under specific circumstances. These guidelines have been kept secret and thus have created fear among immigrants and the faith communities that serve them.
Second, revise these guidelines to prohibit the arrests of undocumented persons in churches and schools unless there is a direct and clear threat to community safety.
And third, work with Congress to pass immigration reform that unites families, provides a pathway for undocumented immigrants to earn legal status and eventual citizenship, and respects the God-given dignity of all persons.
While honoring and enforcing the law, let us not forget that we are fundamentally a nation of immigrants.
Despite the complex balances required by immigration law, do we not believe and wish to honor the promise inscribed on that iconic statue:
Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!
Is it not the door that has made us strong?
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