Churches Under Siege: GOP Senators Back ICE Raids on Sacred Spaces
Plus, digging into 'droit d'asile'—the medieval French law Senator Cassidy mentioned that made churches sanctuaries from the king.
Good Sunday to you! I've been spending days reporting on what is happening on immigration here and on social media, and spent most of the weekend on it, too. There is a lot to say. But because it’s Sunday, let’s go with churches—
We asked 41 senators this week about immigration. The thing that blew my mind the most were how many supposedly Christian GOP senators told me they were fine with churches being targed by ICE.
Of the fourteen Republicans we asked, only Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) stood up for churches, and she didn't waffle: “I think the specter of raids at places of worship is unacceptable."
Despite the vehement opposition of faith leaders from many Christian denominations, including the Council of Catholic Bishops, the rest of Murkowski’s fellow GOP senators showed no mercy excepting one —
Breaking down ‘droit d'asile’
Senator Bill Cassidy of Louisiana alluded to a medieval law in France that prohibited the king from arresting someone at the altar. We did some research. The law that he’s referring to is called "right of sanctuary" or "droit d'asile” which provided that individuals could seek refuge in churches and be protected from arrest, even by the king's authority, as long as they remained within the church's sanctuary.
This practice was part of broader ecclesiastical privileges in medieval Europe, where churches were considered sacred spaces where secular authorities had limited power. riginating from early Christian practices, the right of asylum was formalized in various legal codes throughout medieval Europe. The idea was rooted in the sanctity of religious places, where it was considered sacrilegious to disturb or harm someone who sought refuge there.
People accused of crimes, debtors, or those fleeing from vengeance could claim this right by entering a church, monastery, or sometimes even just standing on the church steps. Once inside, they were supposedly immune to secular law enforcement.
Of course, this is not the case in the United States today. Churches can be raided after Trump rolled back Biden-era policies ordering ICE to stand down at churches. A dozen Republican senators told us they have no problem with this, as you can read here—
New ICE Raids Group Chat
On a related note, we spent last week chasing over twenty tips of ICE enforcement actions around the country, in addition to our coverage of Congress and the White House. To help put it all in one place, we made a group chat on Substack dedicated to the purpose of sharing the latest news and chasing down rumors. You can find it here —
Dispatch from Chicago
As we reported last week, border czar Tom Homan lamented Chicago as being “very well educated” — as in, knowing their rights well-enough to not let ICE wrongfully persecute their neighbors. Now Chicago Tribune (above photo) and Wall Street Journal have stories about how the Windy City is thwarting Homan and ICE. This resistance will surely spread as Americans realize that the bullshit promises of the Trump campaign (to only detain criminals, etc) will not be honored during his presidency without strong pushback to the inevitable excesses of his policies. More to follow….
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