6 Questions: What would happen if ICE raided a church, after providing sanctuary?

By: John DeLuca

jdeluca@abc6.com

Twitter: @JohnDeLucaABC6

"J: The efforts that you want to take…so far who’s on board with this idea of providing sanctuary churches?"
 
"D: we have right now about 16 congregations most of them Christian, several of them Jewish who are at least interested in exploring the concept of sanctuary."
 
"J: Just as a practical matter how would it work? Talking about food, sleeping, safety 24/7 housing someone. How would that work?"
 
"D: we are worried about some person who might be un-balanced who found out that in this place of worship…there are some people seeking sanctuary and want to come in and do harm."
 
"D: If there are children involved then that means we’ve gotta help with education so we’ve got people volunteering to be tutors. They also can’t leave the facility so we are lining up people who can come in with some at least minor medical stuff…and they absolutely have to have legal counsel."
 
"J: do you think at this point that immigration officials would respect the sanctity of the church and the sanctuary itself and not come in?"
 
"D: ICE guidelines and it’s important to emphasize these are guidelines, but there are 3 places that ICE guidelines say that they won’t go into right now…schools, hospitals and houses of worship…"
 
"D: I would hope that they would continue to do that."
 
"J: if they don’t and they do come in…then what?"
 
"D: there would be a group of us that would put our bodies between the people who are coming in and the people who are being deported and they would have to take us too."
 
"J: in the big picture Reverend…can you imagine what that would look like, in terms of cameras capturing that…a Reverend from Rhode Island standing in front of ICE officials as women and children are being dragged out of a house of worship…the optics…in American in 2017."
 
"D: I hope it doesn’t take that for Americans to wake up!"
 
"J: what’s wrong with deporting illegal immigrants who’ve committed crimes?"
 
"D: we’re not talking about that. If there are people who’ve committed serious, violent crimes and we deport those people…I don’t see anyone standing up trying to fight for them."
 
"J: Reverend why do you think you have the right to do this?"
 
"D: in my mind and in my understanding of the scriptures…clearly offering hospitality to these strangers and providing a path for them to normalization here in the U.S. is the right thing to do and the right thing God would call us to do…so as I said…if we have to choose between God’s law and civil law…in my book God’s law wins."
 
"J: but as you look at modern Christianity and politics and law…aren’t Christians obligated to submit to earthly authority?"
 
"D: this is an act of civil dis-obedience which we feel called to do…then we also have to be prepared to face the consequences. You don’t engage in civil dis-obedience and then think you walk away clean…K? there are consequences to that..and if there are we will."

©WLNE-TV / ABC6 2017