M artin L uther K ing J r .
Page 4
2017 special edition
January 11, 2017
A Refuge for Immigrants in Uncertain Times
Pastor leads
movement for
social justice
c hriSTa M c i nTyre
T he P orTland o bServer
Pastor Mark Knutson is a na-
tional leader in a movement for
social justice for immigrants
struggling to obtain legal status
in the United States. Northeast
Portland’s Augustana Lutheran
Church, a multicultural congrega-
tion where he serves as a spiritual
by
PhoTo by c hriSTa M c i nTyre /T he P orTland o bServer
The doors of northeast Portland’s Augustana Lutheran Church are posted with notices explaining how
the church is a sanctuary with no guns, weapons or any use of force allowed.
Pastor Mark Knutson
leader, is one of the few churches
to provide sanctuary for immi-
grants in fear of being deported.
When a Portland resident and
immigrant named Francisco Agu-
irre was being pursued by federal
immigration authorities, Knutson
and his church reached out to pro-
vide him protection.
After 81 days of living in the
sanctuary of the church, Aguirre
returned home to his wife and two
small children. It was one of few
cases in the last decade where a
church has offered physical sanc-
tuary to a foreign-born person
without documents to be in the
U.S. or who has stayed beyond the
expiration date of a visa.
“As faith communities we
have to always follow what we
preach,” Knutson said. “Love.
Be as gentle as doves, but as wise
as serpents. Be ready to confront
challenge. Love, without justice,
never works. You have to be ready
to march, confront and advocate.”
Pastor Knutson was on the
coast, presiding over a sea burial,
when the call came in that Immi-
gration and Customs Enforcement
(ICE) was attempting to deport
Aguirre. Without hesitation, he
told his staff to take Aguirre in.
Aguirre spent the first night sleep-
ing on the red carpeted church
altar, a place where Knutson cel-
ebrates communion with his con-
gregation and delivers sermons
many times on weekends.
ICE is the country’s second
largest criminal investigative
agency, next to the FBI under the
Department of Homeland Securi-
ty. Once an immigrant enters the
U.S. without visas or other official
channels, they are legally consid-
ered criminals. Since the 1970’s
many Central and South Ameri-
can citizens have fled oppressive
and violent governments; not all
of them can afford or wait out the
long process to enter the Unit-
ed States legally. Some of them
must move quickly to avoid being
killed by violent factions or drug
cartels in their home countries.
Knutson learned firsthand
through Aguirre’s showdowns in
federal court and the battles with
local and national media what it
c onTinued on P age 17