Churches protected dozens of families under Trump. Now that they’re leaving, is sanctuary over? Jeff Gammage, The Philadelphia Inquirer © MONICA HERNDON/The Philadelphia Inquirer/TNS Carmela Apolonio Hernandez, in pink sweater, buys snacks with her children Edwin, 12, Yoselin, 14, and Keyri, 16, across the street from the Germantown Mennonite Church in Philadelphia, Pa. on Monday, March 15, 2021. Hernandez and her four children intend to exit the church and live freely while pursuing a visa that would allow them to live and work permanently in the United States.
Carmela Apolonio Hernandez doesn’t yet know where she’s going, but she knows what she’s leaving the inside of Philadelphia church walls that for more than 1,100 days have been a comfortable prison.
Churches protected dozens of families under Trump Now that they re leaving, is sanctuary over?
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Undocumented immigrants and churches that give them sanctuary face breaking points
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COVID Cases in Prisons and ICE Immigration Jails Surpass 250,000
With a rapidly spreading coronavirus outbreak infecting about a third of all people incarcerated, medical tents are newly placed in a baseball field at San Quentin Prison during the COVID-19 pandemic in San Quentin, California, on July 9, 2020.
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The United States has the world’s highest incarceration rate and largest systems for locking people up. As soon as the COVID-19 pandemic began, experts and advocates warned the virus would be amplified by prisons and jails, where social distancing is impossible, ventilation is often poor and people are more likely to have underserved medical needs.