Home | WebMail | Register or Login

      Calgary | Regions | Local Traffic Report | Advertise on Action News | Contact

Posted: 2017-10-20T09:01:48Z | Updated: 2017-10-20T09:01:48Z

At a time when undocumented people nationwide are living in fear under President Donald Trump s anti-immigrant policies , one church continues to lead the way in supporting them.

Southside Presbyterian Church in Tucson, Arizona, helped launch the sanctuary church movement in the 1980s, when places of worship across the country helped harbor Central American migrants facing the threat of deportation after fleeing violence in their countries. Southside was one of the first to publicly offer sanctuary and helped an estimated 14,000 immigrants throughout that decade, ABC news reported.

The Tucson church has also been part of the movements resurgence since 2014 , prompted by former President Barack Obamas record deportation numbers . Around 400 churches nationwide declared support for undocumented immigrants, with some, including Southside, providing physical haven to people at immediate risk of deportation.

This year, in response to President Donald Trumps anti-immigrant rhetoric and policies including a crackdown on so-called sanctuary cities and rescinding the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program the number of churches offering sanctuary has more than doubled to over 800 nationwide.

Days before Trumps inauguration, Southside gathered with local congregations to promise sanctuary to undocumented people facing deportation in the coming years.

Were living under an administration that is feeding off of a narrative of fear of the immigrant, Rev. Alison Harrington , Southsides pastor since 2009, told HuffPost. Its work we dont feel like we have a choice in. Our commandments are really clear: Welcome the stranger, work for the oppressed. Gods not like: Well, if you feel like it.