Reverend Keary Kincannon says his Alexandria, Virginia Sanctuary at Rising Hope Methodist Church will remain a safe place for anyone that needs it.
"We think it's very important to let refugees, immigrants, foreigners know they are welcome here. That's what America is," said Kincannon.
Kincannon's view was forever shaped by an incident two years ago, where he says federal agents detained people leaving his church's hypothermia shelter.
"They called tow paddy wagons and took people away. It was quite disturbing," he recalled Tuesday.
Rising Hope has mainly a homeless congregation. It provides clothes, hopes and hundreds of thousands of meals every year to those in need. He says his doors are only closed to ICE agents as long as they don't have a search warrant.
But are churches breaking the law by offering a safe place for undocumented immigrants?
"It's an open question as to whether they are breaking the law. There's a provision within the immigration and nationality act that prevents an individual to harbor an alien knowing that alien entered the US illegally," said Andrew Arthur, a former immigration judge. Arthur is now a law fellow at the Center for Immigration Studies in D.C.
Arthur said it's not so much a legal issue however, as it is a social justice issue. He said based on policy, ICE typically avoids arresting individuals at hospitals, churches and even in the sight of schools.
Arthur said the sanctuary movement began about 30 years ago in San Francisco, where churches there were shielding individuals fleeing civil war in El Salvador.