Many churches across the country are actively sheltering illegal aliens as of late, and now one in Raleigh is joining in on this criminal behavior
(Raleigh N&O) A Raleigh church is sheltering an undocumented immigrant fighting deportation to Mexico, adding to the small but growing sanctuary movement in North Carolina.
Umstead Park United Church of Christ will serve as Eliseo Jimenez’s home while lawyers try again to reverse a deportation order that told Jimenez to leave the country by July 31.
“I can’t give up. I have to fight. My family needs me,†Jimenez said during a press conference at the church on Tuesday. “I believe that any loving, responsible father would do what I’m doing.â€
Jimenez, 39, is married and has a son, 4, and daughter, 5. The family has been living in Greensboro, and Jimenez’s wife and children stay there during the week and visit Jimenez in Raleigh on weekends.
Here’s the problem (besides him simply being an illegal alien): he came to the U.S. illegally when he was 17. He was caught by the Alamance Sheriff’s Office in 2007, and ordered deported. He was subsequently deported in 2007.
One month later he recrossed the border illegally, so, per federal law, that’s a felony. Then
In 2013, he was stopped and charged with driving without a license, and says he was served with an order of removal, requiring him to leave the country. He later was granted a stay on the order, which he applied for again each year and was granted until this year, he said.
In July, the stay was denied and Jimenez was told he would have to leave the country by July 31.
Re-entering the U.S. after being deported is a federal felony. The church, by sheltering him, is in violation of the multiple state and federal laws regarding sheltering wanted criminals.
Furthermore, the church is also in violation of 8 US Code 1324 (a)(1)(a)(iii), sheltering an illegal alien, which can carry heavy fines and jail up 5 years for whomever is sheltering.
I’m all for respecting churches, when they deserve it. If an individual church wants to break the law, then there should be penalties for it. They know that ICE has put churches on the “don’t arrest here” list, but, as more attempt to shelter known illegal aliens, there will have to be consequences. These individual churches are attempting to put law enforcement in a bad position, when the churches themselves are violating the law. Start with taking away the tax exempt status of any church that shelters an illegal.
