Amid crackdown, churches reach out to immigrants
Hilda Ramirez never steps foot outside St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church. When her 11-year-old son leaves for school, she holds her breath, praying that he will return. When sirens wail on the streets outside, her heart stops.
For much of the past two years, the Austin church has provided sanctuary for Ramirez, a 30-year-old immigrant who came to the U.S. illegally after fleeing violence in Guatemala.
She and her son, Ivan, sleep on bunk beds in a room in the east wing of the house of worship, where church members have been trained to form a human barrier should immigration agents show up.
“What else could you do?” said Pastor Jim Rigby, who never hesitated to offer St. Andrew’s as refuge. “This is as foundational as anything there is. The core message of the Bible is not to mistreat immigrants and sojourners.”
Rigby, whose church is one of about two dozen in the Austin Sanctuary Network, and among an estimated 800 across the country offering protection to immigrants at risk of being deported, is part of a growing chorus of Christian leaders stepping up to advocate for immigrants.
The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops is staging a national call-in and a day of action this week to pressure members of Congress to pass legislation protecting “Dreamers,” immigrants brought to the country illegally as children. Prominent evangelical leaders, including Russell Moore, leader of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, have issued open letters in support of the approximately 700,000 young immigrants shielded from deportation through the federal Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA).