Ded Rranxburgaj of Southgate, Mich., talks at a press conference Jan. 16, 2018, after taking sanctuary at Central United Methodist Church in Detroit while facing deportation.
Credit: Romain Blanquart/Detroit Free Press
DETROIT, MICHIGAN — Saying it answers to a higher law, a historic Protestant congregation here said it is taking in an undocumented Albanian immigrant whom the U.S. wants to deport next week.
Last year, Central United Methodist Church, which sits next to Comerica Park, declared it was a sanctuary congregation open to those seeking refuge. That notion will be put to the test Jan. 25 when Ded Rranxburgaj, 48, of Southgate, Mich., is scheduled to be removed and sent back to his native Albania.
It is the first time a church in metro Detroit has announced that it is taking in an immigrant that Immigration and Customs Enforcement wants to deport since President Donald Trump took office, immigration-rights advocates say.
ICE has what is called a “sensitive locations” policy that advises agents not to target houses of worship and schools.
Today on MSNBC they said the latest poll shows 39% approve of trump governance. Really!! This is America?? Some who forecast the future have seen either a national renewal or a devolvement to state and regional government to civil war in the 2020s. It seems that 2018 elections should give some idea of how this future could develop.
I don’t see any way we can continue down this road and remain a cohesive prosperous country that does not become more of a “shithole/house”(re:trump). I served 4 years in the USAF during Vietnam and am very discouraged by this cruel abusive government-not that things have been so grand in the past. Maybe trump is offering an opportunity of “reflection” to look with clear sight at our present and past to decide how or if we will maintain this corp/military/security state or will we chose compassionate human values.
Government is force. Our problems will never be solved as long as we look to government to solve them..NEVER..because in the long run violence does not solve problems..it creates more problems. I am sad for the man in this article and his family.
How do we 320million live without a government? Practically speaking how do you make life work for so many different people. Look around the world at those places without government, oh let’s use Somalia or Yugoslavia or…. But here we could manage without government?? Maybe this us of a is too big but still it matters what kind of governance, what kind of hierarchy, what values inform and guide. We are an immature species at times very fearful, aggressive and disagreeable. If I am wrong please explain your often stated belief that government is always bad and how we live without it.