Village of Yellow Springs, Ohio

The Yellow Springs Friends Meeting (Quaker) explored the meaning of “Sanctuary” in 2017 when the Trump administration pushed Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to vigorously enforce its inhumane policies. Five individuals in Ohio were in Public Sanctuary and hundreds detained in private for-profit prisons in Youngstown and later Butler County. These detainees had lived in Ohio for decades and had jobs, families and community here.

We organized our churches and community members to advocate with our elected officials for a permanent stay for Edith Espinal living in Sanctuary in the Columbus Mennonite Church. We invited that church’s pastor to visit the village and collected funds for her legal fees. In 2018 we became aware that ICE began boosting capture and deportation for Afro-Mauritians, a country that still has highest rate of enslaved people in the world. Ohio has the largest number of Afro-Mauritanians in the U.S.  Abdoulaye Sow, and other activists visited Yellow Springs to tell their story.

The powerful truths we gained are that WE ALL LIVE ON THE BORDER! and we need to keep asking ourselves, “Can our village be a safe space?” and “What does it mean to be a Sanctuary people?” Above all else we must continually remember our sacred commitment to “Love Your Neighbor,” no exceptions.

Poster submitted by Patricia Dewees courtesy of the American Friends Service Committee | www.AFSC.org.

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