BRADENTON HERALD

August 29, 2007

Ministry leader seeks Fla. sanctuary

By MAURA POSSLEY

Answering the call of millions of illegal immigrants in the United States, a nationwide movement of congregations giving sanctuary to these families also is expected to be launched in Florida.

The "New Sanctuary Mov- ement" that has spread through many of the country's largest cities, including New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, San Diego and Washington, D.C., provides illegal immigrants with whatever they need to survive, said Jeanette Smith, a former immigration attorney and director of the National Farmworker Ministry's Miami office.

It calls on people to address the "humanitarian crisis" caused by immigration officials' stepped-up raids and arrests, Smith said.

"Faith congregations throu- ghout the country are looking at what's happening in their communities," said Smith, who is involved in discussions of the movement's launch in Florida. "They're not taking policy positions. People are realizing that they need to speak up."

Smith will speak Saturday at a public forum sponsored by the Sarasota/Manatee Farmworker Supporters org- anization.

"There are people in this country who are being very badly treated," said Marvin Mills, organization secretary. "It's a very important new development. This situation won't go away."

At the heart of the movement, Smith said, is the fabric of families being pulled apart.

Parents are deported back to their home country, she said, while children, many of whom were born in the United States and have spent most of their lives here, are left hanging in the balance.

"Families are being ripped apart," Smith said. "We understand the need for security, but we also realize this isn't working. Ripping families apart is not working."

The push mirrors the original sanctuary movement born in the early 1980s, when thousands of Central American immigrants fled from dire circumstances to the United States.

Much media attention within the new movement has been cast on Elvira Arellano, an illegal immigrant from Mexico who took sanctuary for a year in a Chicago church to avoid being separated from her 8-year-old son Saul, who was born in the United States. Arellano was arrested and deported more than a week ago.

While many congregations in Florida informally have given sanctuary to immigrants for some time, Smith said, an official launch was likely, though a date had not yet been determined.

"Congregations are in discussion," she said. "It's getting worse by the moment, and I think people feel the pressure to speak up now."