Thread: Strangers in Egypt

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Strangers in Egypt
by Eleanor Bader

Rev. Donna Schaper, Senior Paster of Judson Memorial Church in Greenwich Village, leads a training session on the New Sanctuary Movement. Photo by Grace Goodman.When Cardinal Roger Mahoney of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles gave his Ash Wednesday sermon in 2006, he called on Catholics to aid immigrants both legal and not. Taking inspiration from the Old Testament book of Leviticus, he reminded his parish of the ancient injunction: Treat the stranger as you would the native-born because you were once strangers in the land of Egypt.

Mahoney’s words resonated throughout the U.S., jolting clergy and laypersons to support immigrants threatened with deportation. The result was a New Sanctuary Movement which has brought churches, mosques and synagogues into coalition. In 12 states and dozens of cities including New York, the NSM materially supports families in which one or more person is facing removal. According to the National Korean American Service and Education Consortium, the stakes are enormous: 3.1 million U.S.-citizen children have at least one undocumented parent who could be deported.

Last year, 185,431 individuals were deported nationwide, up from 108,249 in 2000. Local figures are less precise because Immigration and Customs Enforcement, known as ICE, does not keep statistics by borough. Nonetheless, agency spokesman Mark Thorne says that 2,173 people were removed from 14 downstate New York counties in 2006; the region saw another 1,148 deportations during first eight months of 2007.


“The New Sanctuary Movement offers spiritual, moral and legal services—but not necessarily shelter—for families in trouble,â€

Americans want to preserve their homeland and lives therefore they are racists? God expects us to share AND WE DO. But we are not about supplanting the citizens with invaders so stop quoting scripture that does not pertain.