Sanctuary, the practice of providing refuge in a sacred place, has been revived by an undocumented Mexican cleaning woman trying to evade deportation by holing up in a Chicago church.
Elvira Arellano, 32, said she invoked the ancient right of sanctuary in a desperate effort to avoid being separated from her son, Saul, 7, a U.S. citizen.
That was nine months ago. Since then, her act of civil disobedience has helped spark a “new sanctuary movement” and turned her into a leader in the effort to create a path to citizenship for the nation’s estimated 12 million illegal immigrants.
Her maneuver has renewed attention on a concept used through the ages to hold back the force of government.
In a telephone interview, Arellano said in Spanish, “I never planned for this.” When the order for deportation came down, she said, “I was desperate. I remembered how Joseph and Mary were given sanctuary. I asked my church for sanctuary, and they agreed.”
In the distant past, the practice of religious sanctuary was common, but today, it has no legal standing in the U.S.
Nonetheless, it was invoked in the early 1980s to prevent thousands of Central American refugees from being deported.
The new sanctuary movement inspired by Arellano was a response to immigration raids that have broken apart hundreds of undocumented families.
Participants are offered financial, spiritual and legal services by congregations and, if necessary, a physical space to protect them.
