A San Diego State University graduate now working as a graphic designer became the face of the New Sanctuary Movement in San Diego today. He stepped forward to accept the support from a Quaker congregation that has offered to support and shelter him as he fights for legal status to remain in the United States.
Marco, sanctuary participant : You know, when somebody cares about you physically, that's one thing. But when somebody cares about you spiritually, that means a lot.
This is Marco. He lived in Mexico City until he was four, and then crossed the border with his mother and two sisters. They came with passports and overstayed their visas. Now, his family is facing deportation. Rabbi Laurie Coskey is a spokesperson for the sanctuary movement. She says providing sanctuary can mean anything from legal support to housing and food.
Rabbi Laurie Coskey, Interfaith Committee for Worker Justice : Most of the families, if not all of the families who are seeking sanctuary are not actually hidden by congregations, they're already in the deportation process. So identities are known. So congregations can connect with these families without at the outset doing any kind of act of breaking the law.
The Interfaith Committee for Worker Justice is organizing local congregations to join the sanctuary movement. Marco says having a community united behind him helps ease the anxiety he's felt for years. He wants to become a legal citizen, but feels a flawed immigration system has kept his family in limbo.
Marco : The reason our case has been taking so long is because we had a bad lawyer who took advantage of us. And yet the system takes so long that it has already been over ten years that this case has been open. So I'm bringing to light right now that the system is broken, or else, I would have been in a whole other position right now.
But protestors question the legality of what the religious groups are doing.
Jeff Schwilk, San Diego Minutemen Founder : My understanding is this was a huge push for amnesty and they were going to offer sanctuary. Sanctuary means a place where you can hide. Hide from who? The authorities who want to get you or detain you or apprehend you? So they need to clarify their position.
Interfaith groups in five other cities also made their first formal offers of sanctuary today.
