How churches are protecting immigrants from deportation

(The Christian Science Monitor) "What would happen if a mother from Guatemala showed up at your church door with a little kid in her arms and said, 'Can you help me?'"

Dozens of U.S. churches are now mulling this question, posed by John Fife, a former pastor at Southside Presbyterian in Tucson, Arizona, in the wake of a recent surge in federal immigration raids. Taking matters into their own hands, an increasing number of nuns, clergy, and their congregations are participating in the sanctuary movement by illegally offering shelter to undocumented immigrants.

The modern sanctuary movement began in the 1980s, when thousands of Salvadorans and Guatemalans fleeing the violence of civil wars were offered refuge by religious congregations. It was a response to the stringent federal immigration policies that made asylum difficult for Central Americans to obtain. It was rekindled in 2007, but dissipated along with hopes of comprehensive immigration reform passing in Congress.