Leaders of a Middletown church are considering making the building a sanctuary for immigrants wanted by the U.S. Department of Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
The pastor at St. Paul's United Methodist Church said the emergency discussion came about after last Wednesday's incident at Middletown City Hall when a man escaped ICE agents who were trying to detain him.
According to ICE, agents generally do not enter certain sensitive locations like churches to detain an immigrant.
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An immigration law expert met with the pastor and community activists about how the church would do this legally.
They now said they'd be able to house immigrants until better legal solutions were available or until a warrant was issued with a judge's signature.
Pastor Charles Ryu said this is something the church has thought about for some time and has nothing to do with politics.
"It's not, you know, harboring someone against a person. It’s a public act and it’s a Christian or faith community’s witness in a public realm,” Ryu said. “Sometimes people ask me if I’m becoming political and I say not really. We are making a faith witness in a social-political realm."
He said leaders at his church are going to reach a decision in the next several days.