The new sanctuary movement and the deportation of Elvira Arllano

Submitted by Kent Sensenig on August 22, 2007 - 6:47pm.

A message from the Fuller Theological Seminary Be@s chapter.

Hey all:

Below is a brief report (and a link to a more comprehensive news article) on the arrest and deportation of Elvira Arllano (separating her from
her 8-year old son, who is a US-born citizen), here in L.A. over the weekend. Elvira had become the most prominent face of the "New Sanctuary" movement, a church-based solidarity effort that is working for just immigration reforms and standing with the undocumented.

Elvira had sought sanctuary in a Methodist Church in Chicago for over a year, but was arrested when she came to L.A. to speak at Roman Catholic
(and other) supportive churches and meet with other New Sanctuary participants. (The report below is from my church friend, Bert Newton; his
"Urban Village" community here in Pasadena has been supporting another sanctuary-seeking immigrant locally, named Juan.)

Peace in Christ,
Kent Davis Sensenig
Fuller Seminary Beatitudes Society

PS--Just FYI, the "old" Sanctuary movement was another US church-based effort to protect/support Central American refugees in the 1980s who
were fleeing (US-funded) civil wars/(US-trained) death squads in El Salvador, Guatemala, Nicaragua etc. My dad and sister—both of whom have worked in the refugee resettlement field for the Mennonite church—had connections with this older movement (including the “Overground Railroad,” which helped Central Americans move through the US up to Canada, where they were granted the political asylum denied them here for political reasons by the Reagan Administration). Jim Corbett down in Arizona was one of the founding “fathers” of the 1980s movement (see his book “Sanctuary Church” or a book about him “Convictions of the Heart: Jim Corbett and the Sanctuary Movement”). Here in LA, Clergy and Laity United for Economic Justice (Alexia Salvatierra) have been quite involved in reviving this idea for a new time/context.

Elbert Newton wrote:

Many of you were present a few weeks ago when Cristina, the mother of Juan Sanctuario, spoke at our church about her son's asylum plea and
the New Sanctuary Movement, and many of you signed a petition in support of Juan.

Well, now the woman who inspired the New Sanctuary Movement, Elvira Arllano, has been deported to Mexico. She was arrested by immigration officers yesterday in L.A. She was visiting here in an effort to try to
build the movement. She left the church in Chicago where she had been in sanctuary for a year to help build the movement around the country.
She was on her way to visit Juan when she was arrested. You can read the whole story here.

There is a vigil tonight at 6:00 at the federal building downtown. I am leaving shortly after five to take the gold line train down there. Let
me know if you want to come with me.
Also pray. Pray for Elvira and her son, pray for Juan, his family and the others who are in sanctuary. Pray for the movement. Pray for the
millions of other economic refugees in this country, and pray for new world where the economic system doesn't cause grinding poverty that
displaces millions of people, making them the "illegal" shadow workers and scapegoats of other countries.

Thanks for your prayers and your concern.
Bert

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