Thread: TX: Sacred worship, duty to law pitted

Many comments at the source link.
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Sacred worship, duty to law pitted
Immigrant agent removes man, 31, during church service
By SUSAN CARROLL Copyright 2009 Houston Chronicle
Feb. 18, 2009, 10:43PM

Sunday morning, in a church sanctuary near Conroe, an off-duty immigration agent tapped Jose Juan Hernandez on the shoulder and asked him to step outside.

A 31-year-old illegal immigrant from Mexico with three prior deportations, Hernandez quietly followed the agent and promptly was detained on suspicion of illegal re-entry after deportation, said Gregory Palmore, an Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokesman in Houston.

The case would be unremarkable, except for the setting. The fact that Hernandez was detained in church has sparked controversy locally. Hernandez was arrested Oct. 26, pleaded guilty to the re-entry charge this month and is scheduled for sentencing in April. He remains in federal detention in Conroe. Hernandez’s attorney, Rick Soliz, said he plans to file a complaint against the ICE agent in connection with the arrest.

“I wonder what the agent was thinking, if he was thinking at all,â€

The arrested man’s mother, 51-year-old Ana Maria Hernandez, said she was particularly upset to learn that her son, who has been in the U.S. illegally since age 6, was detained in a church.

Oh, I see. Because he's been here illegally since 6 years of age, there's a feeling amongst himself and his family that this gives him some sort of right to continue returning here illegally?

I think not.

Wonder if mommy has her papers? Or is she just another one who is "entitled"?

[b]“A church is a sacred place,â€

He can pray just as well in the I.C.E. detention vehicle

[quote]The arrested man’s mother, 51-year-old Ana Maria Hernandez, said she was particularly upset to learn that her son, who has been in the U.S. illegally since age 6, was detained in a church.

“A church is a sacred place,â€