A Church Haven for Illegal Aliens

Thursday, Jul. 19, 2007 By DAVID VAN BIEMA

Yolanda Morales, left, and her daughter Anabella Trujillo, 17, in pink, stand in the center during the Laying on of Hands and Prayer for them during an interfaith Sanctuary Ceremony at the Angelica Lutheran Church in Los Angeles, July 2, 2007. Morales, who arrived illegally from Guatemala 18 years ago, has been living in a studio owned by the church since she was taken in by The Sanctuary Movement.

Ann Johansson for TIME

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Much of the religious right has been mute on immigration, whether because Scripture offers no clear conservative line or because conservatives themselves are split. But the silence irks many Hispanic Evangelicals, 15% of the U.S. Latino population and growing. Says the Rev. Walter Contreras, a leader in the 1,200-member Network of Hispanic Pastors of Southern California: "We've always been on board with [Anglo] Evangelicals. How can they not be on board with an issue that means so much to us? Focus on the Family--how can you not focus on our families, which are being divided by deportations?"

Contreras was a celebrant at Yolanda Sanctuary's welcome service at Angelica Lutheran. Soon she will move to a room back at her home church, Immanuel Presbyterian, which has not quite finished remodeling a space for her. Later, perhaps, she will stay with another in the cluster of churches committed to her support. How long will she do this? "I don't know," she says, shrugging. "I don't know if I'll wake up tomorrow." But, she adds, "I have faith that this will touch the heart of the people so they can help us with this situation we are having."