New Sanctuary

New Sanctuary for Immigrants

MISSION

The New Sanctuary Coalition of NYC is an interfaith network of congregations, organizations, and individuals, standing publicly in solidarity with families and communities resisting detention and deportation in order to stay together. We recognize that unjust global and systemic economic relationships and racism form the basis of the injustices that affect immigrants. We seek reform of United States immigration laws to promote fairness, social and economic justice.

A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE NEW SANCTUARY COALITION OF NYC

How it began: Early in 2007, the Rev. Dr. Donna Schaper, Senior Minister of Judson Memorial Church in New York City, learned of discussions around creating a new Movement along the lines of the 1980s “Sanctuary Movement.” That Movement had enlisted churches to transport, house, and hide refugees fleeing to the US from the civil wars in El Salvador and Guatemala.

In 2007, religious leaders in Chicago and California, plus Juan Carlos Ruiz, then a Catholic priest working with a Mexican immigrant organization in NYC, envisioned a “New Sanctuary Movement,” to engage faith-based groups specifically in support of the 12 million immigrants living in the US without legal status to stay here.

This New Sanctuary Movement proposed to give “sanctuary” to these deportable immigrants, many of whom had US citizen children. Instead of hiding them, however, the New Sanctuary Movement proposed to publicize their stories, to put a human face on the issues, raise public awareness of their plight, and encourage legislative reform. In NYC, Rev. Schaper and Fr. Ruiz, together with Angad Bhalla (then a Community Minister at Judson Church), convened NYC religious leaders to form a local New Sanctuary Movement chapter.

Both the national New Sanctuary Movement and the NYC Coalition were formally launched in May, 2007. The NYC chapter began with nine members and two “Sanctuary Families” with parents at risk of deportation. Founding members included clergy and congregations from the Christian (Roman Catholic and both mainline and evangelical Protestants), Jewish, and Muslim traditions.

OUR WORK TODAY

In its 3 years, the New Sanctuary Coalition of NYC (“the Coalition”) has grown from a half-dozen congregations to a City-wide Movement, working in coalition with NYC’s major immigrant organizations to reform immigration enforcement practices and policies, both locally and nationally, with a special focus on preserving family unity. Unlike other faith-based immigration reform advocacy groups, the Coalition operates at the congregational, grass-roots level, and focuses its efforts on reform of current detention and deportation practices, both nationally and in the NYC area.

Early in 2010, the Coalition gained national attention for its successful efforts to prevent the immediate deportation of Haitian immigrant Jean Montrevil, the father of one of its “Sanctuary Families,” and a member of Judson Church. And over the past two years, the Coalition has sparked a major ongoing campaign in NYC – a campaign that is looked to as a model for the nation - in de-coupling local law enforcement from immigration enforcement.

For more information on Jean Montrevil and the New Sanctuary Movement, visit the New Sanctuary Coalition of NYC website

Bill Curtails City Role in Deportations

Victory for NYC's immigrant population and allies. A special thanks to The New Sanctuary Coalition of NYC will end two decades of cooperation between the city jail system and federal immigration authorities (ICE). Read more. 

Jean Montrevil

• ^{Watch this new video about Jean Montrevil}

• ^{An article mentioning the New Sanctuary Coalition's work pushing for ICE reform appeared in The Nation.}

• ^{Jean Montrevil and Donna Schaper discuss his release from detention with Amy Goodman on Democracy Now.}

• ^{The New York Times reports on the release of Jean Montrevil from the York, PA, detension center.}

• ^{A video of the protest outside the ICE building January 14.}

• ^{A letter from Jean Montrevil, written in the York, PA, detention center, received January 11.}

• ^{A letter from Jean Montrevil, written in the York, PA, detention center, received January 1.}

• ^{Democracy Now featured the Jean Montrevil case on its December 31 program.}

• ^{NY1's coverage of the January 5 protest demanding the release of Judson congregant Jean Montrevil.}