Sanctuary DMV partners closely with the Congregation Action Network, a network of congregations in the DMV providing support and solidarity to neighbors, friends, and family who fear being detained, deported or profiled. The Network believes faith-based values cannot permit the criminalization and scapegoating of immigrants and people of color. In the face of hate and discrimination, the Congregation Action Network is committed to showing love, compassion and hospitality by:

• • Accompanying people to ICE check-ins and legal hearings

• • Holding Know Your Rights and/or Defend Your Rights trainings

• • Setting up Rapid Response networks to show up during ICE raids in our neighborhoods
    

• • Hosting families at risk of deportation and/or supporting those doing so

• Advocating for your local, city, and state government officials to get ICE out of schools, jails and courts, and end all policies that racially profile and disproportionately incarcerate people of color

If you would like more information, are part of a congregation interested in joining the network, or have general questions, please contact the Congregation Action Network here!

HISTORICAL TIMELINE OF CONGREGATION-BASED SANCTUARY POLICIES

“Sanctuary is rooted in the imperative shared across faith traditions to protect society’s most vulnerable. In the Hebrew Scriptures, the commandment to “welcome the stranger” appears over thirty times. In the New Testament, Jesus encourages his followers to “welcome the stranger.” In Islam, the teachings of the Quran encourage protecting strangers seeking refuge.” 

1980

The network of religious congregations that became known as the Sanctuary Movement started with a Presbyterian church and a Quaker meeting in Tucson, Arizona. These two congregations began legal and humanitarian assistance to Salvadoran and Guatemalan refugees.

1982

Rev. John Fife of Southside Presbyterian Church in Tucson announced that his church would openly defy INS and become a “sanctuary” for Central Americans. The Arizona congregations were soon joined by networks of religious congregations and activists in Northern California, South Texas, and Chicago.

MID 1980s

At the Sanctuary Movement’s height, over 150 congregations openly defied the government, publicly sponsoring and supporting undocumented Salvadoran or Guatemalan refugee families. Sanctuary workers coordinated with activists in Mexico to smuggle Salvadorans and Guatemalans over the border and across the country. Assistance provided to refugees included bail and legal representation, as well as food, medical care, and employment.

1984-1985

The Department of Justice initiated criminal prosecutions against two activists in Texas in 1984, followed by a 71-count criminal conspiracy indictment against 16 U.S. and Mexican religious activists announced in Arizona in January 1985. The Texas trials resulted in split verdicts, one conviction and one acquittal.

1988

The Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) filed American Baptist Churches v. Thornburgh on behalf of eight religious organizations against the U.S. Attorney General and the head of the INS. The lawsuit charged U.S. government officials with interfering with the First Amendment religious rights of sanctuary workers, and sought a court declaration that sanctuary is legal under international law and the 1980 Refugee Act.

1989

San Francisco becomes the first city to establish itself as a “city and county of refuge” for immigrants of all nations. It also was the first major American city to issue identification cards and pass a city ordinance explicitly forbidding local police from assisting in the enforcement of federal immigration law.

1990

The attorneys on both sides of American Baptist Churches v. Thornburgh agreed to settle the case outside of court. The settlement, commonly known as the “ABC Settlement Agreement,” provided some immigration benefits for certain Guatemalans and Salvadorans.

1996

The 104th U.S. Congress passed the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act, which requires local governments to cooperate with Department of Homeland Security’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Agency.  However, cities that have adopted sanctuary policies, limit the extent to which a city’s law enforcement can cooperate with ICE.

2011

Mayor Vincent Gray (in office 2011-2015) declares Washington, DC a sanctuary city.

2015

Juan Francisco Lopez-Sanchez, an undocumented immigrant from Mexico was accused of shooting and killing Kathryn Steinle, a San Francisco resident. His presence in San Francisco, a sanctuary city, sparked a national debate about Sanctuary Cities.

NOVEMBER, 2016

Donald Trump is elected President, and vows to cancel all funding to Sanctuary Cities within his first 100 days in office.

Sources

1. 1. Gzesh, S. (2006). “Central Americans and Asylum Policy in the Reagan Era.” Migration Policy Institute. Retrieved from: http://www.migrationpolicy.org/article/central-americans-and-asylum-policy-reagan-era/

1. 1. “American Baptist Churches v. Thornburgh” Center for Constitutional Rights. Retrieved from: https://ccrjustice.org/home/what-we-do/our-cases/american-baptist-churches-v-thornburgh

1. 1. “American Baptist Churches v. Thornburgh (ABC) Settlement Agreement.” USCIS Retrieved from: https://www.uscis.gov/humanitarian/refugees-asylum/asylum/american-baptist-churches-v-thornburgh-abc-settlement-agreement

1. 1. (2015). “The Risk of Sanctuary Cities.” The Washington Post. Retrieved from: https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/no-free-lunch-the-risks-of-sanctuary-cities/2015/07/22/35748a72-308d-11e5-8353-1215475949f4_story.html?utm_term=.e8b82c400cd4

1. 1. (2011). “San Francisco, U.S.’s first sanctuary city, faces roadblock.” Political News. Retrieved from: http://archive.azcentral.com/news/election/azelections/articles/2011/04/10/20110410sanctuary-san-francisco-immigrants.html

1. (2016). “Here Is What Donald Trump Wants To Do In His First 100 Days.” NPR. Retrieved from: http://www.npr.org/2016/11/09/501451368/here-is-what-donald-trump-wants-to-do-in-his-first-100-days

Network Member Congregations (July 2019)

Maryland, Montgomery County

• Adat Shalom
• Beth Chai
• Bethesda Friends Meeting
• Bethesda Presbyterian Church
• Cedar Lane Unitarian Universalist Church
• Christ Congregational Church
• Episcopal Church of Our Savior
• Insight Meditation Community of Washington (IMCW)
• River Road Unitarian Universalist Congregation
• Sandy Spring Friends Meeting
• Shirat HaNefesh (Song of the Soul)
• St. Camillus Catholic Church
• Temple Emmanuel
• Temple Shalom
• Vedanta Center of Greater Washington
• Westmoreland United Church of Christ

Maryland, Prince George’s County

• College Park Church of the Nazarene
• College Park United Methodist Church
• Davies Memorial Unitarian Universalist Church
• Hyattsville Mennonite Church
• Mowatt Memorial United Methodist Church
• Muslimat Al Nisaa Shelter
• Paint Branch Unitarian Universalist Church
• St. Matthew’s Episcopal Church/Iglesia San Mateo
• University United Methodist Church

Northern Virginia

• All Dulles Area Muslim Society (ADAMS)
• Beverley Hills Community UMC
• Great River Tendai Sangha
• Herndon Friends Meeting
• Kol Ami: Northern Virginia Reconstructionist Community
• Langley Hill Friends Meeting
• Rock Spring UCC
• Temple Rodef Shalom
• Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Fairfax
• Unitarian Universalist Church in Reston
• United Christian Parish – Reston
• Wellspring UCC

• 19th Street Baptist Church
• All Souls Church, Unitarian
• Assisi Community
• Calvary Baptist Church
• Calvary Episcopal Church
• Capital City Church
• Cleveland Park Congregational United Church of Christ (UCC)
• Community of Sant’Egidio
• Dorothy Day Catholic Worker community
• Dumbarton United Methodist Church
• First Congregation UCC
• Foundry United Methodist Church
• Friends Meeting of Washington
• Holy Trinity Catholic Church
• Inspire DC
• Luther Place Memorial Church
• Metropolitan African Methodist Episcopal
• National City Christian Church
• New Community Church
• New York Avenue Presbyterian Church
• Nineteenth Street Baptist Church
• Plymouth Congregational United Church of Christ
• Sacred Heart Catholic Church
• Seekers Church
• St. Stephen and the Incarnation
• Temple Sinai
• The District Church
• The Sanctuaries DC
• The Table Church
• Washington Ethical Society
• Washington National Cathedral
• Western Presbyterian