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Immigration officials handle church sanctuary delicately
By Sophia Tareen
Associated Press
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CHICAGO -- Everyone knows where Flor Crisostomo lives, even federal immigration officials who have ordered her deported to Mexico. Her address — Adalberto United Methodist Church — is the reason they haven’t detained her.

Another woman famously took refuge in that church as she championed immigration reform, and at least 13 other illegal immigrants are doing the same at churches around the country. So far, they have little to fear.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials have arrested illegal immigrants by the hundreds in raids at factories, restaurants, malls, farms and meat packing plants, but have handled cases involving churches delicately.

“Our agency takes enforcement actions when we deem it appropriate,” said Julie Myers, assistant secretary of homeland security at ICE. “I am personally not aware of an instance when ICE has gone into a church. That being said, if there was a particular, extremely egregious, ax murderer or something else, that’s not to say we would not enforce the law at that time.”

Avoiding churches is unofficial policy for federal immigration officials, according to Doris Meissner, a former commissioner at the Immigration and Naturalization Service, the agency that oversaw immigration until the Department of Homeland Security was formed in 2003.

Since the 1970s the unwritten rule has been “no churches, no playgrounds, no schools,” said Meissner, now a senior fellow at the Migration Policy Institute in Washington, D.C.

Some say storming a church to arrest a lone person would appear insensitive. Others say making exceptions for churches, where immigrants openly — and in Crisostomo’s case, very publicly — defy deportation, makes the agency look lax.

Crisostomo, who came to the U.S. in 2000 and was arrested in 2006 during a raid at a wooden pallet company in Chicago, has been at the West Side Chicago church for six months, holding news conferences, writing blogs and lecturing school groups about immigration issues.

“These are people who deliberately violated the law,” said Dave Gorak, executive director of the Midwest Coalition to Reduce Immigration. “We can’t even enforce the laws without being criticized as Gestapo.”

But Meissner said it wouldn’t make sense for the agency to devote resources to arrest the relatively small number of people in sanctuary.

“An agency like ICE has far more work than it can possibly ever do,” Meissner said. “You want to use those resources to thwart as much as possible egregious criminal behavior. A single person in a church doesn’t really measure very high on a list.”

Over the past year, ICE has focused on raids at workplaces.

“They pick work sites because they understand it is work that acts as a lure for unauthorized migrants to come to the U.S.,” said Louis DeSipio, a political science professor who teaches Chicano/Latino studies at the University of California, Irvine. “ICE is sensitive to the publicity effect of their actions. They are careful on respecting religion and churches.”

At the same time, ICE must “take into account that there is a public image issue and that they’re being taunted,” Meissner said.

Adalberto United Methodist gained international attention when it offered sanctuary to another immigrant, Elvira Arellano, who used it as a base to champion immigration reform.

Arellano stayed there for a year with her U.S.-born son, and frequently spoke about immigrant rights. She was arrested and deported to Mexico only after she left her sanctuary last August to travel to a rally in Los Angeles.

“We do conduct enforcement activities at a time and place of the government’s choosing,” said Myers, ICE’s top official. “With Ms. Arellano, we believe that an appropriate time was when she was kind of traveling outside of the institution.”

Arellano has been lauded as a heroine of the New Sanctuary Movement, which calls for immigration reform, and Crisostomo says she’s following in Arellano’s footsteps.

“We have to show the government that we are many, we are strong, we are humans and that we deserve respect in this country,” said Crisostomo, who paid a smuggler in Mexico to get her across the border. “This is a church that was made to help the fight of people who are undocumented.”

The New Sanctuary Movement, which makes living arrangements for illegal immigrants at churches, is modeled after a similar movement for Central Americans in the 1980s. Those in sanctuary now — in Illinois, New York, Kansas, California and Washington — were aided by the movement, said Kristin Kumpf, a national organizer for the movement.

The movement’s goal is to call attention to immigration reform, but organizers believe sanctuary is a temporary solution, Kumpf said.

“The churches have been treated as sacred space,” said Kumpf. But “no one can stay in sanctuary forever.”

Take a look
Illegal immigrant Flor Crisostomo poses inside the Adalberto United Methodist Church in Chicago on May 15, 2008, where she has sought sanctuary for more than three months. It's the same church another woman, Elvira Arellano, used as a base to champion immigration reform. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement have arrested hundreds in raids on factories, restaurants, malls, farms and meat packing plants, but is hesitant to arrest immigrants who seek sanctuary in churches. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)
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Reader comments on this story - 18 total

Note: All views and opinions expressed in reader comments are solely those of the individual submitting the comment, and not those of the Pantagraph or its staff.

Tom Terrific wrote on Jul 13, 2008 5:00 PM:

" Original JD, I agree with your post. "

c.a.t.s. wrote on Jul 13, 2008 3:13 PM:

" illegal aliens are nothing more than terrorist on our economy.. re: controller why cant we send them all back ??? I say we do and charge thier country the cost for deportation. if the country doesnt want to pay for it stop trading until they do.
a few months with no trade and mexico would build its own fence.. "

jw wrote on Jul 13, 2008 2:19 PM:

" This building ( church) is harboring a criminal against the United States of America. The building should be fenced off, utilities shut off, nothing goes in until the criminal comes out. Just as has been done at other standoffs. "

Freedom fanatic wrote on Jul 13, 2008 1:34 PM:

" Controller - what is law abiding about ILLEGAL ALIGNS. They are here illegally, that in itself proves they are not law abiding. They may be hard working but they are not law abiding or they would have immigrated here legally.

How about immigrants learning our language (English), instead of our citizen having to learn the language of the immigrants. If they want to be citizens of the U.S.A., they should be expect to speak our national language, fly our flag, sing our national anthem, pledge allegiance to our flag and serve in our military if needed. "

Bama Yankee wrote on Jul 13, 2008 12:32 PM:

" Controller wrote on Jul 12, 2008 11:08 PM:
" The immigration issue is so much more complex than the 'send them all back' crowd wants to acknowledge. It's simply not realistic to say we can deport all illegals. There must be a road to citizenship for those working, law abiding people already here.

Two things wrong in that commment..... quite realisitcally, as a nation, we'd save money the first year we deported all those illegals, by not having the cash flowing to their home countries, by not providing all the services they are draining out of our economy that hard working taxpayers are supporting.

How can you label someone as law abiding that has broken our laws in coming here, and by staying here using false documentation? What part of illegal is it that you do not understand? "

WorkinTheOpinionBoard wrote on Jul 13, 2008 11:35 AM:

" I agree with the person who says the Bible clearly states we, as Christians, should obey the law of the land/authorities. These churches are breaking the law and I agree 100% they should have their tax status' revoked. The elders or whatever they are called, should get involved. These illegal immigrants have NOTHING to do with religion, so to speak, so why should the church offer sanctuary. So what if it's 1 or a 100 people claiming sanctuary in a church, go in and arrest them. You will find most people will not care one way or the other. "

The Original JD wrote on Jul 13, 2008 9:15 AM:

" Churches are not exempt from the law, and harboring an illegal alien is a crime. Start arresting church leaders, and I bet they will not have to go into the church, the 'Christians' will toss out the illegal alien out like yesterdays garbage. Plus, churches continually breaking the law should have the non-profit status revoked and be charged back taxes. "

thisandthat wrote on Jul 13, 2008 8:17 AM:

" I wonder how long the church would allow them to stay if the IRS pulled the tax exempt status from the denomination. "

Jarhead71 wrote on Jul 13, 2008 7:13 AM:

" The Christian Bible states very clearly that the Church and its members are suppose to obey the laws of the land and render to the government what is lawfully the governments. This Methodless church is violating its own doctrine and Christian principles. I agree, revoke the Methodist Churches tax exempt status because of the continual breaking of US laws. "

Controller wrote on Jul 12, 2008 11:08 PM:

" The immigration issue is so much more complex than the 'send them all back' crowd wants to acknowledge. It's simply not realistic to say we can deport all illegals. There must be a road to citizenship for those working, law abiding people already here.

And learning Spanish is a great idea! I plan to pick it up again as I'm through with grad school. "

MRS. wrote on Jul 12, 2008 8:56 PM:

" Elvira went to Ca. and was arrested. Her son stayed with relatives I think. She is advocating against our immigration laws. She and others (even Us citizens) say our laws are unfair even though the US has just about the most generous immigration laws in the world. Did any of you hear Obama the other day? He addressed the subject of speaking English. He pointed hi finger right at the audience and said don’t worry if they will learn English they will (when) you better make sure your children can speak Spanish. Not be bilingual and learn a second language he specifically said Spanish. "

VoiceInWilderness wrote on Jul 12, 2008 8:46 PM:

" Churches are supposed to teach people right and wrong. That Methodist Church should be accountable. Sanctuary is supposed to be for the protection of people who are oppressed or in danger because of their religion. Many battles have been fought for religious freedom but this issue is not about religion...it's about breaking the laws of the land and, by the way. We don't need quotes from the bible relating to 4 thousand years ago. We need our officials to enforce our immigration laws of TODAY and arrest illegals AND those who are ILLEGALLY supporting, aiding and abetting them. That would include church leaders and those legal citizens who are helping conceal them, hiring them, exploiting them and being the root cause of the illegal alien problem. IF they weren't getting help from greedy employers and other exploiters, their families and friends and the organized "underground railroad" they wouldn't be so successful. Their eventual goal is to TAKE BACK the Southwestern United States, first by over population and political power ..then by annexation back to Mexico. Read "Mexifornia." We must deport all illegal aliens in the most humane way. "

floyd wrote on Jul 12, 2008 8:11 PM:

" Church not abiding by our laws should have it's tax exempt status revoked. Anyone else doing this would be arrested for aiding and abetting. Just because they are a church doesn't put them above the law. "

buckeye wrote on Jul 12, 2008 8:10 PM:

" The church should send her back and than she could get in line behind thoes who respect the laws of our country. "

Tom Terrific wrote on Jul 12, 2008 7:20 PM:

" To Lighthouse, I think she went to a protest rally in California where she was picked up and deported. I'm not sure what happened to her son. "

Brittanicus wrote on Jul 12, 2008 7:11 PM:

" (ICE) does not discriminate, and therefore if church people get caught offering refuge to 'illegal aliens' NOT IMMIGRANTS. They are likely to be arrested for aiding and abetting. Today! NOW! (ICE) is now being offered intelligence by the public-at-large. The meat processing plants, other work places had obviously a informant , who decided enough is enough?

More and more Whistle-blowers are rising to the surface, because like all Americans they are frustrated with their tax dollars supporting illegal lawbreakers. That the suspicious activity regarding fraudulent Social Security Numbers and large numbers of individuals who cannot comprehend English was certain to draw attention.


America is a compassionate country, but we must abide by the "Rule of Law." Immigration laws was enacted by THE PEOPLE, not the politicians. 80 percent of the American people want heavily enforced borders, no path to Citizenship or BLANKET AMNESTY. The church is ignoring our laws and should be held accountable. Religious organizations are not above the law, predatory employers or any citizen or legal resident.

Join NUMBERSUSA a help stop the illegal alien occupation of our country. "

Lighthouse wrote on Jul 12, 2008 4:53 PM:

" Whatever happened to Elvira, the other woman who took sanctuary at this church. WLS, Don & Roma went on and on about it when it first happened, but I've never heard the outcome. "

Chuck Olnaldi wrote on Jul 12, 2008 4:40 PM:

" Why all of a sudden are they worried about appearing insensitive? I remember when a six year old was pulled out of a closet at gunpoint and sent back to Cuba. On the plus side, I now knoe where I can hideout if I ever decide to brake sum laws. "
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