Part 2: Why it’s harder for immigrants to get out of sanctuary than it is to get in

Why a South Jersey couple taking sanctuary in a Philly church still has hope of staying in the U.S. legally.

Listen 14:17
The Thompson and Reyes families took sanctuary at the First United Methodist Church of Germantown in September 2018. (Kimberly Paynter/WHYY)

The Thompson and Reyes families took sanctuary at the First United Methodist Church of Germantown in September 2018. (Kimberly Paynter/WHYY)

In part two of our series “Risking Sanctuary” with The Philadelphia Inquirer, The Why continues the story of the Thompson family — Clive and Oneita Thompson have taken sanctuary for five months in a Germantown church — and looks at why they and thousands of other immigrants lose their asylum cases each year. WHYY reporter Laura Benshoff and the Inquirer’s Jeff Gammage explain why it’s so much harder to get out of sanctuary than it is to get in, and why the couple still has hopes of being able to stay in the U.S. legally. Click here to listen to part one.

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