Numerous faith leaders across the U.S. are pondering ways to resist even in the face of warnings that houses of worship are not off-limits for arrests, the Associated Press reports. In Portland, Oregon, the Rev. W.J. Mark Knutson, said he plans to offer undocumented migrants sanctuary at Augustana Lutheran Church anyway — just as he did in 2014. A man from El Salvador, wanted for re-entering the United States illegally, took shelter in the church for nearly three months, sleeping under the altar the first few nights. “Theologically, we’ll stand our ground against the government — an unjust law is no law at all,” Knutson told The Associated Press. “These are sacred spaces.” Similarly, in Philadelphia, the Rev. Robin Hynicka, pastor of Arch Street United Methodist Church, said his church is committed to being a “justice seeking, reconciling, sanctuary congregation.” During the first Trump administration, that commitment included sheltering an immigrant from deportation while he went through a successful process to obtain a visa.
Other clergy ministering to undocumented migrants were less specific, though they vowed to continue — and even expand — their support following this week’s announcement that federal immigration agencies could make arrests at churches, schools and hospitals, ending existing policies that protected sensitive spaces from enforcement. A pastor in Queens, the Rev. Manuel Rodriguez of Our Lady of Sorrows Catholic church, said many of his 17,000 parishioners are undocumented and have children who attend the parish’s school. The Rev. Joseph Dutan, pastor of St. Paul the Apostle church in Queens, said some of his congregation members now worried about the risks of attending Mass.
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