Thread: University Church Offering Sanctuary to Immigrant Fugitive

WHEN MORENO’S DEADLINE FOR SELF-DEPORTATION PASSED, UNIVERSITY CHURCH INVITED HIM TO STAY.

Posted Apr 26, 2016 by Kaitlyn Akin

PHOTO: AHONA MUKHERJEE/THE CHICAGO MAROON Jose Juan stands in front of the University Church before the vigil in support of his fight against deportation took place on Monday, April 25.

Last Monday, a Bolingbrook man took sanctuary in University Church on 57th Street in an attempt to avoid deportation by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

Jose Juan Federico Moreno-Anguino had been ordered to leave the country after an aggravated DUI conviction prompted deportation proceedings in 2009, according to The Chicago Tribune. Since then, Moreno has been fighting the ruling in order to stay in the country with his wife and five children.

“Mr. Moreno-Anguino failed to depart the United States by April 15 as ordered by a federal immigration judge,” an ICE statement said. “Since he did not depart the United States to Mexico, ICE considers him to be an immigration fugitive.”

The Chicago Religious Leadership Network (CRLN) put University Church in contact with Moreno initially. As a member of CRLN, the Church has designated itself as an “immigrant-welcoming” congregation, meaning they would be willing to harbor people avoiding deportation. When Moreno’s deadline for self-deportation passed, University Church invited him to stay.

“We don’t see him as a felon, we see him as a child of God,” University Church Reverend Julian DeShazier said.

ICE policy states that officers may not arrest people in churches, schools, or hospitals unless there is an immediate threat to their safety or the safety of those around them, or ICE’s Washington office gives special permission. According to DeShazier, Moreno’s sanctuary is a tactic to force ICE to reconsider what his deportation would mean for his family.

“We’re hoping that ICE will exercise some humanity and not just make him another number on a sheet, but to really look at him as a person and to look at this situation as such an important situation not only for his family, but for the Latino community,” DeShazier said.

This is not the first time the church has offered a safe space to immigrants. According to DeShazier, they also housed families being deported to Guatemala during the Guatemalan Civil War in the mid ’80s.

University Church has been overwhelmed by mixed responses to Moreno’s situation, and both phone and e-mail lines have been compromised due to the strain. DeShazier said that, as a whole, the church community has been enthusiastic and welcoming.

On Monday evening, the Church held a vigil in support of Moreno and his family. Leaders from both CRLN and University Church attended along with a number of community activists. After a short ceremony of prayer and song, University Church leaders advertised a meeting at 7 p.m. this Wednesday at the Church for any local groups that want to get involved in the effort to help Moreno.

“We should try to do everything we can,” DeShazier said. “If we’ll do everything to keep our family together, how can we watch the government tear another family apart and do nothing?”

The Chicago Maroon ? University Church Offering Sanctuary to Immigrant Fugitive

ICE needs to go into the Church and physically remove him and deport him. That Church needs to loose it's tax-exempt status and be shut down for 12 months. Churches are not above the law. They are not any better than any other human being that has to follow our laws. They are just people...no more no less...that have put themselves on a pedestal and refuse to obey our Federal Laws by doing this. Keep religion out of our politics, all religions.

If these Churches want to help these illegals...take your money, not Taxpayers money, put it where your mouth is and go down to Mexico and help educate them there and put them to work. Go meet with the President of Mexico and Central America and clean that place up of the drugs, gangs and crime.