sanctuary

Clive Thompson reads aloud the letter that means he and his wife, Oneita, no longer need to fear deportation. They are joined by their son, Timothy, 15.

National

'All Our Opportunity Was Taken Away': Sanctuary Family Slowly Restarts Life

5:00am May 13, 2021

by Laura Benshoff

The Thompsons, originally from Jamaica, spent 843 days living in churches in Philadelphia to avoid deportation. Now they are free, but reentry comes with new challenges.

Sandra Lopez holds her daughter, Areli, next to Rev. Shawna Foster in the basement of the Two Rivers Unitarian Universalist parsonage in Carbondale, Colo.

Desperate To Avoid Deportation, She Hasn't Left Sanctuary For 8 Months

5:55pm July 07, 2018

by Wyatt Orme

Immigration officials have a rule against detaining people who seek sanctuary in houses of worship. A congregation in Colorado is testing the strength of that tradition under the Trump administration.

An old man prays inside Sultan Ahmed mosque in Istanbul, Turkey.

Mosques Consider Sanctuary For Immigrants

3:45pm March 04, 2018

A year ago, a Cincinnati mosque said it would be a sanctuary for asylum seekers — and backed out three weeks later. Now, mosques continue to explore ways to be involved in the sanctuary movement.

Queue Listen Now

Family Members Of Juana Ortega Petition Senator Tillis For Help

10:20am June 28, 2017

by David Ford

Family members of a woman who is taking sanctuary in a Greensboro church were at the office of Republican U.S. Senator Thom Tillis on Tuesday.

Queue Listen Now

Code Switch's Adrian Florido spoke to key players to understand why hundreds of churches are ready to start a public fight with the current administration to prevent deportations of immigrants living in the U.S. illegally.

Sanctuary Churches: Who Controls The Story?

1:35pm March 29, 2017

by Adrian Florido

This week on the podcast, Adrian Florido tackles this debate: When immigrants facing deportation seek sanctuary, should they make their stories public? Do they decide or does the church?

After escaping violence in El Salvador in 1984, Magdalena Rivas found refuge in Old Cambridge Baptist Church in Cambridge, Mass. More than 30 years later, she revisits the small chapel where she slept.

Religious Communities Continue The Long Tradition Of Offering Sanctuary

5:20pm March 14, 2017

by Gabrielle Emanuel

As a response to immigration enforcement, religious communities are preparing to shelter people at risk of deportation. They're drawing on the ancient tradition of offering sanctuary for refugees.