Fort Collins congregation votes to be sanctuary church for immigrants

Foothills Unitarian Universalist Church joined the sanctuary congregation movement Sunday with the overwhelming support of its members.

The progressive, non-doctrinal church doesn't have any undocumented immigrants moving into its halls just yet, though Rev. Gretchen Haley said Monday they are talking with a handful of people seeking sanctuary.

They plan to welcome a sanctuary-seeker next month, she said. In the meantime, the church is working to train volunteers and make sure they're able to accommodate the person they take in.

"The stakes are really high," Haley said of her church's preparations. But not as high as the stakes for people hoping for help. "The risk we're taking and the risks of us screwing up in public is nothing compared to the risks being taken by the immigrants facing separation from their children."

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A church establishing itself as a sanctuary provides no legal protections to sanctuary seekers. However, a sanctuary church's actions tend to be honored by law enforcement, including the Department of Homeland Security and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, according to observers.

Several Colorado churches have become sanctuaries for undocumented immigrants facing deportation. Jeanette Vizguerra, who sought sanctuary at the First Unitarian Society in Denver, was named one of TIME magazine's 100 most influential people in the world. She and fellow sanctuary-seeker Arturo Hernandez were eventually given two-year delays on deportation following intervention by U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet.

There were an estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants in the United States in 2015, according to Pew Research Center.

Haley said the idea of becoming a sanctuary congregation started last winter and during the 2016 presidential campaign. Heated anti-immigrant rhetoric during the lead-up to the election and around President Donald Trump's inauguration kick-started the conversations, she said. 

The church saw its membership skyrocket this winter as progressive-minded people sought fellowship following Trump's inauguration. It was also littered with anti-Muslim fliers in March.

Church leadership didn't want to feel like an outlier or act too hastily or without having the full consent of the congregation, Haley said. Conversations started becoming more serious in the spring, though organizers slowed down the process until after the summer traveling season. Then they started hearing the need of immigrants in the community and recalling the church mantra adopted just in October: "To unleash courageous love in Northern Colorado and beyond."

On Sunday, 92 percent of the 165 voting congregants supported the move.

Daniel Covey, chairman of the church's sanctuary committee, acknowledged the task ahead of them. But ultimately, Covey has faith that this will strengthen the congregation and individuals while also correcting "some very severe injustices being done in our community."

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He pointed to stories of fathers or mothers being deported and banned from the country for a decade while their oftentimes U.S. citizen children are left behind.

"It's tied to the central tenets of our faith, and part of that is that all people have inherent dignity and worth, and that we're all connected together," Covey said. "And I feel like if you believe those two things, you can't sit around and let families be torn apart."

Haley said the church initially expected 30 volunteers for the sanctuary initiative; it ended up with more than 70.

In the short term, Haley said the church plans to start with the model it employs in helping feed and shelter the homeless. But as the time providing sanctuary stretches — she said she's heard some folks receive some reprieve from deportation after three days, while others face up to nine months in sanctuary and are unable to leave — it may prove more challenging.

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Kim Medina, a Fort Collins immigration attorney and volunteer with immigrant-advocacy organization Fuerza Latina, said the sanctuary movement has had strong results in the short term by preventing families from being torn apart. But questions remain if it will lead to a long-term policy change.

She called the sanctuary movement for people facing deportation wholly appropriate; fewer people are being granted stays from deportation while seeking legal residency and deportations seem to be happening more indiscriminately, Medina said.

"Prior to this administration, there was a system of priorities for removal, with people like dangerous felons at the top, and people without a criminal history and a strong tie to the community at the bottom," she said. "But that priority system is now gone."