Austin Sanctuary Network

Background

The Austin Sanctuary Network was formed in 2015 with the goal of providing sanctuary to illegal immigrants and asylum seekers facing deportation and other proceedings before U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The group claims that its usage of the term “sanctuary” is based on the “longstanding tradition of providing immigrants with safe haven in places of worship without fear of seizure.” The organization claims that ICE has “honored” this tradition and not apprehended immigrants at such locations. ⁴

The first two cases for which the group claims credit were a “queer Guatemalan woman who sought sanctuary in 2015 at the First Unitarian Universalist Church of Austin and won a stay of deportation after a two-and-a-half-month campaign” and “an indigenous Guatemalan mother and her son [who] took sanctuary at St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church. They won a one-year deferred action after an 8-month sanctuary campaign.” ⁴

The group also stated on its website “Late in 2016 ICE started aggressively pursuing undocumented immigrants in and around Austin using techniques that violated human rights and common decency. In response, the ASN decided to broaden its scope to assure the human rights of undocumented immigrants were protected and to share their personal stories to the community.” ⁴

Activity

The Austin Sanctuary Network claims that is focuses on providing physical sanctuary at churches and other religious institutions to illegal immigrants or immigrants who may lose legal status and be removed from the United States. The group also coordinates campaigns to stop deportations for immigrants housed at their facilities and accompanies Austin-based immigrants to hearings and ICE check-ins in San Antonio. The group also assists churches in outfitting their facilities to house immigrants. The group has raised little funding through its registered nonprofit and has stated unrealized goals of hiring support staff for the organization. ⁵

In January 2021, the group shared a press release from U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-TX) and U.S. Senator Ed Markey (D-MA) to “Urge President Biden to Protect Immigrants in Sanctuary Churches.” The press release stated that “Federal immigration enforcement has a longstanding policy against carrying out arrests in houses of worship. The number of immigrant families living in sanctuary in a house of worship increased dramatically under the Trump administration, and today at least 40 immigrant families currently living in sanctuary churches across the United States.” The group also shared a letter that asked “President Biden to use the power of the presidency to defend these most vulnerable of immigrants, including by granting stays of removal, lifting deportation orders, and signing private bills of relief for any immigrant family living in sanctuary.” ⁶

In 2019, the Austin Sanctuary Network was represented by the left-of-center Center for Constitutional Rights in a federal court case challenging ICE’s practices of fining immigrants being shielded from deportation at churches. The case alleged that “ICE targeted high-profile activists in sanctuary—all of whom fled persecution in their countries of origin—with notices stating its intent to seek up to $500,000 in fines from each of them. These notices were abruptly withdrawn, only to be re-issued several months later in 2020 against several individuals. Today, each woman faces the possibility of fines of approximately $60,000.” The case was pending as of April 2022. ²