Advocacy Update
April 2008

Lutheran Communities Hurt by Immigration Raids and Detentions
By Gregory Z. Chen, LIRS Director for Legislative Affairs

On February 13 the House Immigration Subcommittee held a hearing on “Problems with ICE Interrogation, Detention and Removal Procedures.” A 17-year-old girl, Marie Justeen Mancha, testified that armed federal immigration agents raided her home. Apparently unaware that Marie’s entire family was born in the United States, the agents entered yelling “Police! Illegals!” and then interrogated her without any parent present.

For the congressional hearing, LIRS submitted similar stories from Lutheran congregations across the country who have expressed concern and outrage that aggressive tactics are hurting not only the targeted individuals, but entire communities. Raids are tearing families apart, splitting husbands from wives, parents from children, including many who are U.S. citizens. Here are a few of their accounts.

Good Shepherd Lutheran, Weehawken, N.J.
On Ash Wednesday a church member came with her daughter, crying and asking for prayer for her ex-husband who had been detained pending deportation. The Rev. Brigid Solano, pastor of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) congregation, recounted how the service was marked by grieving and concern for the family. The man has been in the United States for 16 years.

The community was also shocked when the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) took a long-standing church member from El Salvador into custody in front of his family after he applied for U.S. citizenship. Before obtaining his lawful permanent resident status 15 years ago, the man had been convicted of a misdemeanor. Solano obtained an immigration attorney to represent him, but the detention has distressed church members who have seen his young children deeply affected by the separation from their father.

Lutheran Innercity Network Coalition (LINC), Houston
As director of LINC, a Lutheran urban outreach program of the Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod (LCMS), the Rev. Mark Junkans observed that raids and detentions have devastated the communities he serves, dividing families when men are deported and women and children are left behind. Two recent local raids resulted in the detention of more than 40 people. In late 2007 a man from Guatemala was detained at work and placed in immigration removal proceedings. For a week, his wife was unable to obtain any news about his whereabouts. LINC helped identify the facility where he was detained and is trying to find an immigration attorney to represent him. In the meantime, his wife is desperate, as she has no source of income and takes care of their three small children—2, 4 and 7.

Salam Arabic Lutheran Church, Brooklyn, N.Y.
Since the 9/11 terrorist attacks the Rev. Khader El-Yateem and members of the largely Arab ELCA congregation have felt increasingly targeted as an immigrant community from the Middle East. The recent escalation in raids and detentions has compounded the fear in their communities. A member was recently deported to Jordan after being detained at a public market. He had been in the United States for 17 years, owned two houses, and was a successful businessman. El-Yateem was himself recently detained by ICE for three hours at the airport upon returning  from a trip to Jordan. Many others feel the raids and deportations are specifically targeting Arabs. To avoid harassment, some members of the congregation are leaving the country.

Click to link to the full LIRS statement submitted for the formal hearing record.

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