Woman Brings New Attention to Sanctuary Movement

 

Rosa Gutierrez Lopez was frightened when immigration officials told her she had to leave the United States by December 10, 2018.

The 40-year-old undocumented immigrant from El Salvador had been living in the U.S. since 2005. She lived in northern Virginia, doing restaurant work and other jobs. She is the mother of three U.S. citizens.

Gutierrez Lopez received deferred¹ action by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, after she was detained in 2014 for being in the country illegally.

Each year, she checked in with ICE and her request for deferred action was granted. Her lawyer says the renewal² was mainly granted because her young children are American citizens and one of them has a genetic³ disorder⁴.

In 2017, however, the first year of the Trump⁵ administration, Rosa noticed a difference when she reported to ICE for her yearly check-in.

“I was told to report to a different location and the official there began asking me all sorts of questions – questions they had never asked me before,” she told VOA, speaking in Spanish.

In the end, ICE did not renew her deferment⁶. Officials ordered her to leave the country. She also had to wear an electronic device to record her movements.

But then, a friend told her about sanctuary⁷ Christian⁸ religious centers and she was able to find one.

Since mid-December, Gutierrez Lopez has been living at the Cedar⁹ Lane Unitarian Universalist Church in Bethesda, Maryland.

She is the first publicly known case in the Washington, D.C. area since churches across the nation began resisting the Trump administration’s immigration policies.

While she lives in sanctuary, her lawyers are requesting her asylum¹⁰ because of high rates of organized crime in El Salvador. Criminal groups killed three of her close family members in recent years. Gutierrez Lopez fears the same will happen to her if she returns.

Hector Perez Casillas is the immigration lawyer representing her. He believes she would be in serious danger if she returned to El Salvador.

“They would be immediately targeted because they know that: A) she’s been here in the United States for so long; B) she has American children; and C) one of them is ill, making her an extra vulnerable target."

Church sanctuaries¹¹ grow

Gutierrez Lopez is one of 50 undocumented immigrants known to have sought sanctuary in 39 churches across the country. That information comes from the Church World Service, or CWS.

While the total number of people now in sanctuary is unknown, the CWS notes there has been an increase since the start of the Trump administration.

At that time, there were 37 reported cases. The number of churches offering sanctuary also rose from 400 in 2017 to more than 1,100 today.

Noel Andersen is with the CWS. He says the Trump administration’s policy of arresting and deporting¹³ undocumented immigrants who have no criminal records is responsible for the increase.

The churches, in Anderson’s words, “see that people are being dehumanized.”

Though sanctuary churches may fear government raids, for now immigration authorities are obeying the established tradition of staying out of churches, schools and hospitals.

Steve Camarota agrees with the tradition, but has strong criticism for the sanctuary movement. He is the research director at the Center for Immigration Studies, or CIS, an organization based in Washington, D.C.

"It's understandable why in any individual case, you might say, ‘Well, couldn't we make an exception for this nice guy, this nice lady.' And I think everyone feels a lot of sympathy for that. But when you do that, you end up with the scale of illegal immigration that we now have.”

The American non-profit organization, Southern Poverty Law Center, a legal support organization, identifies CIS as a hate group. It accuses CIS of publicizing white nationalist and anti-Semitic ideas.

Growing publicity¹⁴

Reverend Abhi Janamanchi is the religious leader at the Cedar Lane Unitarian Universalist Church, where Gutierrez Lopez is staying. He said cases like hers get a lot of support and media attention.

“So far, we’ve received…offers of support even from total strangers,” he told VOA.

Acting¹⁵ as a sanctuary is a big project, involving many volunteers. Janamanchi said the Cedar Lane Church has 150 volunteers providing services such as meals, language services and security.

Because Gutierrez Lopez cannot leave church grounds without risking arrest, her children visit on weekends. But only her daughter fully¹⁶ understands why she remains¹⁷ at the church.

“My daughter, who is 11 -- she does know. She tells me: ‘Mommy, I miss you, I want you to be in our home.’ But I tell her I can’t,” she said.

Her life at the Cedar Lane Church is likely to continue for some time. Janamanchi has promised the church would support her "for as long as it takes."

I’m Alice Bryant.

Words in This Story

deferred action – n. an immigration status that delays deportation¹⁸

grant – v. to agree to do, give, or allow something asked for or hoped for

location – n. a place or position

sanctuary – n. a place where someone or something is protected or given shelter

church – n. a building that is used for Christian religious services

vulnerable – adj. open to attack, harm, or damage

deport¹² – v. to force a person who is not a citizen to leave a country

scale – n. the size or level of something especially in comparison to something else

1 deferred   

adj.延期的，缓召的v.拖延，延缓，推迟( defer的过去式和过去分词 )；服从某人的意愿，遵从

参考例句：

• The department deferred the decision for six months. 这个部门推迟了六个月才作决定。
• a tax-deferred savings plan 延税储蓄计划

2 renewal   

adj.(契约)延期，续订，更新，复活，重来

参考例句：

• Her contract is coming up for renewal in the autumn.她的合同秋天就应该续签了。
• Easter eggs symbolize the renewal of life.复活蛋象征新生。

3 genetic   

adj.遗传的，遗传学的

参考例句：

• It's very difficult to treat genetic diseases.遗传性疾病治疗起来很困难。
• Each daughter cell can receive a full complement of the genetic information.每个子细胞可以收到遗传信息的一个完全补偿物。

4 disorder   

n.紊乱，混乱；骚动，骚乱；疾病，失调

参考例句：

• When returning back,he discovered the room to be in disorder.回家后，他发现屋子里乱七八糟。
• It contained a vast number of letters in great disorder.里面七零八落地装着许多信件。

5 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

6 deferment   

n.迁延，延期，暂缓

参考例句：

• The bank do not allow further deferment of his payment. 银行不容许他再次推迟付款。 来自互联网
• Students are to refer to the regulations governing course deferment, refund and withdrawal the Student's Handbook. 学生需要参考学生手册上有关推迟入学、退费和退学的相关规定。 来自互联网

7 sanctuary   

n.圣所，圣堂，寺庙；禁猎区，保护区

参考例句：

• There was a sanctuary of political refugees behind the hospital.医院后面有一个政治难民的避难所。
• Most countries refuse to give sanctuary to people who hijack aeroplanes.大多数国家拒绝对劫机者提供庇护。

8 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

9 cedar   

n.雪松，香柏(木)

参考例句：

• The cedar was about five feet high and very shapely.那棵雪松约有五尺高,风姿优美。
• She struck the snow from the branches of an old cedar with gray lichen.她把长有灰色地衣的老雪松树枝上的雪打了下来。

10 asylum   

n.避难所，庇护所，避难

参考例句：

• The people ask for political asylum.人们请求政治避难。
• Having sought asylum in the West for many years,they were eventually granted it.他们最终获得了在西方寻求多年的避难权。

11 sanctuaries   

n.避难所( sanctuary的名词复数 )；庇护；圣所；庇护所

参考例句：

• The designation of special marine reserves and marine sanctuaries shall be subject to the State Council for approval. 海洋特别保护区、海上自然保护区的确定，须经国务院批准。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• After 1965 he acquiesced when they established sanctuaries on that soil. 1965年以后，他默认了他们在那块土地上建立庇护所。 来自辞典例句

12 deport   

vt.驱逐出境

参考例句：

• We deport aliens who slip across our borders.我们把偷渡入境的外国人驱逐出境。
• More than 240 England football fans are being deported from Italy following riots last night.昨晚的骚乱发生后有240多名英格兰球迷被驱逐出意大利。

13 deporting   

v.将…驱逐出境( deport的现在分词 )；举止

参考例句：

14 publicity   

n.众所周知，闻名；宣传，广告

参考例句：

• The singer star's marriage got a lot of publicity.这位歌星的婚事引起了公众的关注。
• He dismissed the event as just a publicity gimmick.他不理会这件事，只当它是一种宣传手法。

15 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。

16 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

17 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

18 deportation   

n.驱逐，放逐

参考例句：

• The government issued a deportation order against the four men.政府发出了对那4名男子的驱逐令。
• Years ago convicted criminals in England could face deportation to Australia.很多年以前，英国已定罪的犯人可能被驱逐到澳大利亚。