These resources are intended to inform learning, conversations, and explorations by the congregation of the Waterbury Congregational Church. Please send suggestions and inquiries to Life LeGeros at the church.
Exploration Session 1 — “Background and History,” March 2, 2025 at 11:15 am
Exploration Session 2 — “Legal Issues,” March 23 at 11:15 am
Exploration Session 3 — “Policies and Procedures,” March 30 at 11:15 am
Core Background Resources
Statement of intent regarding sanctuary church status in the Waterbury Congregational Church annual meeting report, January 26, 2025
Immigration and ICE rights and responsibilities for employers and nonprofits webinar from Vermont Treasurer, February 6, 2025. See highlights with timestamps here.
What it’s like to take sanctuary in a church to protect against immigration actions (5 minutes audio, text also available) by NPR Morning Edition on February 17, 2025
Can ICE now raid churches, schools, and hospitals? Fact check by WCNC Charlotte news, January 28, 2025
Sanctuary congregations and harboring FAQ by ACLU, January 2018
FAQ about sanctuary from Mount Diablo Unitarian Universalist Church,
Vermont based organizations
Vermont Asylum Assistance Project – “… exists to raise Vermont noncitizens’ awareness of and access to critical immigration legal help and support.”
Migrant Justice – “Our mission is to build the voice, capacity, and power of the immigrant farmworker community to organize for economic justice and human rights.”
Vermont Language Justice Project – “… allows people with language access needs the ability to make informed decisions about their health and safety, as well as navigating everyday life in the USA.”
AALV Inc – “…helps new Americans from all parts of the world gain independence in their new communities through a range of integration services.”
Central Vermont Refugee Action Network – “Our mission … is to welcome and provide support to refugees, immigrants, asylum seekers, and migrant workers living in, working in, and visiting Central Vermont.”
State of Vermont Refugee Office – “The mission of the State Refugee Office is to promote and provide a safe and welcoming home for refugees and immigrants, and to promote their full participation as self-sufficient individuals and families in the economic, social, and civic life of Vermont.”
ACLU Vermont – “… is dedicated to expanding and enforcing the civil liberties and civil rights of immigrants and to combating public and private discrimination against them”
US Committee for Refugees and Immigrants, Vermont – “… supports these refugees and immigrants with access to affordable housing, medical and mental health support, education, employment, community connections, and more.”
Historical Background
The sanctuary movement, a brief background by Smith College Center for Religious and Political Life, March, 2017
Sanctuary: On the border between church and state podcast by Straight White American Jesus (available on other podcast players as well), September, 2024
Churches have a long history of being safe havens – for immigrants and others by WHYY NPR, January 26, 2025
The origins of the sanctuary movement by Smithsonian National Museum of American History, July 2023
Churches have a long history of being safe havens — for immigrants and others by NPR, January 26, 2025
Legal Background
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=55vvvLuiZt0 Webinar led by UCC General Counsel, Heather Kimmel, Esq
A Blog post titled, Immigration Enforcement Action: What Churches Need to Know, by Heather Kimmel with many of the points from the above webinar summarized.
An introduction for churches considering ‘sanctuary’ ministries by the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty
Know Your Rights with ICE and Border Patrol flyer by VT Chapter of the National Lawyers Guild
Red Cards detailing rights from Immigration Legal Resources Center
Religious Organizations, Refuge for Undocumented Immigrants, and Tax Exemption, Ellen P. Aprill John E. Anderson Professor of Tax Law Loyola Law School, Los Angeles
Immigration and ICE rights and responsibilities for employers and nonprofits webinar from Vermont Treasurer, February 6, 2025.
Highlights from webinar (from Life LeGeros):
13:30 – Jonathan Rose from VT AG office – makes clear that employees need to continue treating each other with respect and they will enforce all civil rights and harassment law
19:00 – Nicole Killoran from Business Law Center – they offer 10 free hours consultation, including about employees who are immigrants
27:00-36:00 – Kelli Duehning, immigration attorney – talks through the importance for employers to have a plan in place for if and when ICE shows up. Goes through the different types of paperwork they might bring and underscores that only a judicial warrant obligates access to private spaces. Recommends putting up signs to denote private spaces. And reinforces to never use physicality to obstruct ICE officers.
47:00 – Jill Martin Diaz from VT Asylum Assistance Project – talks about the importance of documenting if you see something happening that doesn’t seem right. Keep yourself safe, never physically intervene, and trust that there are legal processes in place to redress after the event. Also see incredible resources at their website and she is an amazing resource who others in our community are tapping into.
Immigrants’ Rights Advocates Sue Trump Administration Over Fast-Track Deportation Policy ACLU press release, January 22, 2025
Immigrants’ Rights Advocates Sue Trump Administration Over Fast-Track Deportation Policy ACLU press release, January 22, 2025
Notes on the complaint (from Peter Plagge):
p2. The Administration’s decision to expand expedited removal to a vast group of noncitizens living anywhere in the United States disregards nearly three decades of experience showing that the expedited removal process, even when used at the border for new arrivals, is rife with errors and results in widespread violations of individuals’ legal rights.
p3. The expansion means that low-level DHS officers can now immediately and without process subject individuals in the interior of the United States to expedited removal, without any consideration of their family ties—including ties to U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident family members—or their ties to their communities
p3. The Rule is illegal. Without relief from this Court, individuals living anywhere in this country are at risk of being separated from their families and expelled from the country without any meaningful process.
p7. IIRIRA also created a highly truncated removal process called “expedited removal” for certain individuals coming to the United States who are inadmissible because they engaged in fraud or misrepresentation to procure admission or other immigration benefits, 8 U.S.C. § 1182(a)(6)(C), or they lack the requisite documents for admission, § 1182(a)(7). See 8 U.S.C. § 1225(b)(1). Expedited removal applies only to noncitizens charged under those specific grounds of inadmissibility and does not apply to noncitizens removable for other reasons.
p9. between 1997 and 2019, with the limited exception of noncitizens who arrived by sea, immigration authorities never sought to apply expedited removal to noncitizens apprehended far from the border, or individuals anywhere in the United States (including near the border) who had been residing in the country for more than fourteen days
p11. The expedited removal statute provides that the process begins—and often effectively concludes—with an inspection by an immigration officer
p11. Thus, a low-level DHS officer can order the removal of an individual who has been living in the United States with virtually no administrative process—just completion of cursory paperwork—based only on the officer’s own conclusions that the individual has not been admitted or paroled, that the individual has not adequately shown the requisite continuous physical presence, and that the individual is inadmissible on one of the two specified grounds
p15. The government’s policies and interpretations of the statute and regulations fail to guarantee these individuals, who are detained during the inspection process, with time or any opportunity to gather the necessary evidence, nor even the ability to make a telephone call to someone who could help
p.26. FIRST CLAIM FOR RELIEF(Violation of the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution)101. The Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment provides that “[n]o person shall. . . be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law. . . .”102.
Logistics, Policies, and Procedures
Congregational Asset Mapping worksheet from Minnesota Unitarian Universalist Social Justice Alliance
Timeline DRAFT / BRAINSTORM
Tuesday, February 18 – Resources to Church Council in case they’d like to start deepening their knowledge in this area.
Sunday, February 23 – Church Council considers committees and exploration sessions.
Sunday, March 2 – Exploration session: historical background. (Previous discussion connection: should we use the term “sanctuary”?)
Sunday, March 9 – No exploration session. Open confirmation session.
Sunday, March 16 – Church Council
Sunday, March 23 – Exploration session: legal background. (Previous discussion connection: even if Trump has rescinded the idea of a church as a safe zone, how can we run interference legally?)
Possible Church Council vote on whether to hold a special congregation meeting
Sunday, March 30 – Exploration session: practical implications and logistics. (Possible update from policy and procedures committee).
Sunday, April 6 – Possible special congregational meeting