Pastor Nelson: Because they are not citizens and their rights are not respected,
their humanity's not being taken seriously.
Hi, I'm Reverend Nelson Rabel Gonzalez.
I'm the associate pastor at St Paul Lutheran Church
in Lodi, California, United States.
SLATE: Sanctuary churches in the US defy the
government to help advocate for
and even house migrants.
Pastor Nelson: The sanctuary movement also advocates for comprehensive immigration reform
at the political level.
It also promotes the wellbeing of migrants at the workplace.
During this pandemic we have seen for example the lack of water
and soap for the migrants to wash their hands.
The lack of usage of masks, so masks are not provided
or expected by those who are in charge of leading, supervising the workers.
So we have seen a lot of irregularities that the government has not
been able to keep up and protect essential workers.
Forty per cent of the population here in Lodi are mostly migrant workers,
mostly from Mexico.
We have to advocate for them because they're doing the essential jobs that the state needs
in order to continue to work and to function.
Sadly here in Lodi, three out of four cases
of people infected by the virus are migrant workers.
SLATE: Elsewhere, sanctuary churches are
providing shelter from Immigration Customs
Enforcement (ICE) officers.
Miriam: Well my daily routine is waking up and thanking God,
for all of the people I know and my family.
I cook, I make breakfast and attend to my family.
And more than anything I am shut indoors.
My name is Pastor Sally Padgett,
I'm the pastor here at First English Lutheran Church,
I've been here for a little over nine years now.
Miriam is a dear woman who is a fantastic mother, and she's become a friend.
She is kind and generous and open and welcoming and she has handled this situation
amazingly, I cannot even imagine what it's like for her to be in this church
but she remains gracious after going going on two…over two years now.
Everything she is about is her two children
and that is why she's here –
she doesn't worry about her own discomfort, it's about being able to raise her two girls.
SLATES: Miriam came to the US from Honduras in
2005 on a six-month visa and then
remained there undocumented.
In 2013, ICE caught up with
Miriam outside her apartment.
She checked in with them regularly until
2020 when the deportation order came - meaning
she would have to abandon her two daughters.
ICE has a self-imposed rule never
to enter a church - which is why Pastor Sally decided
to open up her church as a home for Miriam.
Pastor Sally: The pandemic here in the United States has given us quite a few challenges
with Miriam.
The first is that Miriam and I both most likely came down with Covid
right at the beginning when it hit the United States in March.
We were both sick for about six weeks.
Miriam of course couldn't go out and get the medical help she needed
so we were very fortunate that she healed on her own and did not need medical treatment.
You know, we just keep distanced from each other.
It's also, I'm sure, lonelier for Miriam,
she was used to people being here and now not as many people are coming to the church
and it's hard for some people to come visit and see her.
Miriam: At the moment the grand dream that I have is to have my freedom.
And that they take us into account - not just me but all undocumented migrants that live
here in the US and especially those of us who live in sanctuary.
Pastor Nelson: Exodus 22:21 says: 'You shall not oppress the alien resident that lives
among you. Remember that you were once an alien resident in the land of Egypt.’