Earlier (2007) Elvira's Sanctuary Privilege—More Than Medieval

It’s not enough for Joe Biden to aid and abet an illegal-alien invasion by renewing Catch-And-Release and “paroling” illegals so they can disappear into the country. The Regime has also invented a new Administrative Amnesty to enable the Great Replacement. Illegals who avoid deportation orders by hiding in church “sanctuaries” are not being deported.

To understand the import of what Biden has done, one must understand that the law forbids aiding and abetting illegal immigration. It’s a serious crime defined by Title 8 U.S. Code § 1324 - Bringing In And Harboring Certain Aliens. It cover anyone who:

(iii) knowing or in reckless disregard of the fact that an alien has come to, entered, or remains in the United States in violation of law, conceals, harbors, or shields from detection, or attempts to conceal, harbor, or shield from detection, such alien in any place, including any building or any means of transportation;

(iv) encourages or induces an alien to come to, enter, or reside in the United States, knowing or in reckless disregard of the fact that such coming to, entry, or residence is or will be in violation of law.

The statute prohibits any person from aiding or assisting any illegal alien to remain in the United States.

Clergymen are not exempt, even if they are harboring the illegals on church property. And neither are presidents—a not insignificant fact!

The concept of church “sanctuary” comes to us from ancient Greece, where civil authorities could not arrest someone within a temple complex. The Catholic Church offered sanctuary from civil authorities in the Middle Ages. But that ended with the Protestant Reformation and the tradition never extended to the Anglosphere under Common Law, nor to the United States in the Constitution or statutory law.

The illegal-alien Sanctuary Movement began in the 1980s to protect Salvadoran communists who had fled the avenging hand of El Salvador’s Treasury Police and were subject to deportation.

The Reagan Administration failed to stamp it out, and so the practice spread to other illegal-alien groups. Under the Clinton and Bush 43 Administrations, the practice grew. But it reached new heights during the dark years of Barack Hussein Obama.

None of these Presidents tried to stop the movement. The Department of Homeland Security simply tried to wait out the sanctuaries despite its authority to raid churches. (In contrast to the Elian Gonzalez case. The Clinton Administration sent BorTac to get little Elian in his sanctuary, but never issued warrants to raid fake churches harboring illegals. But of course, Fidel Castro wanted Elian back).

Even during the Trump years, prosecutions of sanctuary illegals never occurred.

Under Clinton, Bush, and Obama, illegal aliens who evaded deportation were never even fined, as required by the Immigration and Nationality Act:

(a) In general, Any alien subject to a final order of removal who—

(1) willfully fails or refuses to—

(A) depart from the United States pursuant to the order,

(B) make timely application in good faith for travel or other documents necessary for departure, or

(C) present for removal at the time and place required by the Attorney General; or

(2) conspires to or takes any action designed to prevent or hamper the alien’s departure pursuant to the order, shall pay a civil penalty of not more than $500 to the Commissioner for each day the alien is in violation of this section.

[Title 8 U.S. Code Section 1324d, Civil Penalties For Failure To Depart, Law.Cornell.edu]

The Trump Administration did try to fine illegals who failed to leave, but only in fits and starts. Deep State saboteurs buried in the legal office of Immigration and Customs Enforcement interfered, among their other misdeeds.

So that’s the history before Joe Biden began aiding and abetting an invasion of his own country.

Unsurprisingly, the world’s most zealous ice-cream consumer has degraded immigration law a step farther. The Regime has quietly dropped fines on a group of illegals who used church sanctuaries, and even worse, given them temporary employment and protection from deportation.

These illegals had lost their appeals in the immigration court system, the Executive Office For Immigration Review (EOIR). They had had their day in court, and even failed to file appeals in the federal courts. They received due process and were ordered deported. But they defied the law and fled to a “sanctuary.”  They were and remain illegals with outstanding deportation orders.

The communists at National Public Radio have the story:

A group of undocumented immigrants who sought sanctuary in churches to avoid deportation has reached a settlement with the Biden administration that will allow the women to stay in the U.S., at least for now.

During the Trump administration, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement issued massive civil fines against these immigrants — nearly half a million dollars, in some cases — as part of a broader crackdown on illegal immigration. But the Biden administration reversed course and stopped issuing fines.

Now the administration is going a step further: It's agreed to settle a lawsuit brought by the four women who allege that they were targeted for retaliation because they spoke out publicly about their cases. The women took sanctuary in churches in Texas, Utah, Ohio and Virginia.

[Four Immigrants Who Sought Sanctuary In Churches No Longer Face Deportation, by Joel Rose, June 21, 2023]

Settlement? The case was settled! The invaders lost!

The Biden Regime gave the illegals work permits for three years and canceled the deportation orders:

Under the settlement made public on Wednesday, the Biden administration has agreed to give temporary protection from deportation for three years to Hilda Ramirez, Vicky Yulissa Chávez-Fino, Edith Espinal Moreno and María Chavalán Sut…

But in the case of Ramirez and two of the other women, the Biden administration did agree to reopen and dismiss their original immigration cases—in effect, giving them a second chance to seek asylum or other protections in the U.S. The fourth woman is appealing her case, said Das.

The settlement is a “first important step” toward permanent legal status, Das said. “The ability to live here, to feel safe, and hopefully one day to be on that true path to citizenship that they and so many others actually deserve.”

In another case from two years ago, we got the women-children-and-minorities-hardest-hit routine, again from the government-funded Lügenpresse.

After more than two years living in churches to avoid deportation to Jamaica, Clive and Oneita Thompson noticed some basic life skills had deteriorated. …

In Cedarville, N.J., they put down roots — Clive worked at a dairy factory and packaging plant and Oneita at a nursing home — but the U.S. government never granted their asylum requests. Rather than leave the country when ordered to, they spent 843 days hiding out in two churches.

[’All Our Opportunity Was Taken Away’: Sanctuary Family Slowly Restarts Life, by Laura Benshoff, NPR, May 13, 2021]

Boo hoo! The Thompsons’ “life skills” wouldn’t have deteriorated if they had returned to Jamaica as ordered after their fraudulent asylum claim was denied. Instead, they defied deportation and hid for more than two years in churches.

Although they had committed the crime of avoiding deportation ordered by EOIR, the Regime revoked the order and permitted the illegals to apply for a green card.

One might think that the Regime can legally revoke EOIR’s properly adjudicated decision at its discretion. You’d think wrong. For one thing, the Regime must have a valid legal reason to overturn an EOIR ruling. Second, the Attorney General a.k.a. the appalling Merrick Garland should have assigned himself the case and published a written decision that overturns the order.

That didn’t happen. The Regime simply ignored the EOIR order and closed the case. End of story.

Perhaps Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton can file a federal lawsuit against these cases. One is in Texas. Paxton is on a winning streak against the Biden Regime Administrative Amnesty.

Someone tell Paxton: a nation turns its yearning eyes to him.

Now…don’t forget why Biden created yet another avenue for illegals to stay put: to Elect A New People who will dispossess and replace the majority white Historic American Nation and cement Democrat totalitarian power forever.

The blogger Federale (Email him) is a 4th generation Californian and a veteran of federal law enforcement, including service in the legacy Immigration and Naturalization Service, the Department of Homeland Security, and other federal law enforcement agencies.