{"id":2205930,"date":"2024-03-25T17:36:02","date_gmt":"2024-03-25T21:36:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/arizona-church-says-it-has-been-barred-from-feeding-immigrants-after-two-decades\/"},"modified":"2024-03-25T17:40:19","modified_gmt":"2024-03-25T21:40:19","slug":"arizona-church-says-it-has-been-barred-from-feeding-immigrants-after-two-decades","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/arizona-church-says-it-has-been-barred-from-feeding-immigrants-after-two-decades\/","title":{"rendered":"Arizona church claims it&#8217;s been denied the opportunity to provide meals to immigrants after twenty years"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">32<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Farizona-church-says-it-has-been-barred-from-feeding-immigrants-after-two-decades%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2205930&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>Gethsemani Baptist Church in the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/mayorkas-says-border-is-not-open-after-record-number-of-illegal-crossings-under-biden\/\" title=\"Mayorkas denies open border despite record illegal crossings under Biden.\">border\u200b town<\/a> of San Luis, Arizona, is facing opposition\u2064 from the\u200b city for its long-standing\u200c practice of providing meals to immigrants and those \u2062in need. The church has filed a federal lawsuit against the city, alleging hostility towards its food ministry. Pastor Jose Manuel Castro emphasizes the importance of the food ministry \u2064in sharing the love of God. \u200dGethsemani Baptist Church \u200din San Luis, Arizona, is encountering resistance from the city for its established \u200dtradition of feeding immigrants and the \u200dless fortunate. The church has \u200dtaken legal action\u200c against the city, claiming\u2063 discrimination against its food \u200dministry. Pastor Jose Manuel Castro\u2064 highlights the ministry&#8217;s role in spreading love and the\u200b gospel.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>Officials at an Arizona church in the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/dhs-us-on-pace-for-highest-number-of-illegal-border-crossings-in-20-years-border-situation-difficult\/\" title=\"DHS: US On Pace For Highest Number Of Illegal Border Crossings In 20 Years, Border Situation \u2018Difficult\u2019\">border town<\/a> of San Luis say they have been barred by the city from feeding immigrants and others in need, a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.npr.org\/2024\/03\/24\/1240466034\/an-arizona-church-on-the-border-fights-the-city-for-the-right-to-feed-hungry-mig\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>practice<\/a> at the church for nearly 25 years.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Gethsemani Baptist Church, located a five-minute drive from the Arizona-Mexico border, made it its mission to serve food to anyone who needed it. Now the church has filed a federal <a href=\"https:\/\/firstliberty.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/Gethsemani-Complaint-3.14.24_Redacted.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>lawsuit<\/a> against the city for alleged hostility toward the church\u2019s food ministry.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe food ministry is the way that our church use to help people and share the gospel and the love of God,\u201d Jose Manuel Castro, the church\u2019s pastor, told NPR.<\/p>\n<p>The suit stated that starting in 2022, the city grew hostile toward the church, citing zoning violations. The church uses a semitruck to load and unload food, which the city said violates the law. The lawsuit also said the city improperly interpreted the church\u2019s food distribution work as commercial activity in a noncommercial zone.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPastor Castro has been loading and unloading semi-trucks of food on the Church\u2019s property at 1010 B Street almost every day for nearly 20 years\u2014a fact which the City was not only aware of, but actively supported,\u201d the lawsuit said.<\/p>\n<p>Castro faces a $4,000 fine, but if the pastor continues to distribute food and receives another misdemeanor, that could punish the pastor with up to six months in prison and another fine.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAlthough the Church disclaimed that any of its operations were currently illegal, and committed to rectifying any <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/gm-halting-pickup-truck-production-in-indiana-due-to-chip-shortage\/\" title=\"GM Halting Pickup Truck Production in Indiana Due to Chip Shortage\">potential issues moving forward<\/a>, Defendants refused to even discuss a solution that would allow the ministry to continue,\u201d the lawsuit stated.<\/p>\n<p>The church tried to move the semitruck offloading site 1 mile away from the church but still faced pushback from city officials. The lawsuit points to one incident with a miscommunication where the truck was supposed to offload.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/calif-homicide-suspect-in-custody-after-dangerous-pursuit\/\" title=\"Calif. homicide suspect in custody after dangerous pursuit\">semi-truck driver<\/a> was supposed to deliver supplies to another location, away from the Church, but he showed up at the Church instead,\u201d the lawsuit said. \u201cPastor Castro immediately ran outside and asked the driver to take the truck away. Although the truck was parked for only 5 minutes at most, that was enough for Defendants.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Castro is originally from Mexico and immigrated to the United States to start a Spanish-speaking church in San Luis. He said the church began its donations in 1999 after a woman with 500 pounds of food on her way to Mexico was denied entry. She dropped off the large amount of nonperishable food to the church, thus beginning the two-decade run of donating food to the community. Castro said he donates food to anyone in need, including immigrants crossing the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/white-house-releases-list-of-president-trumps-accomplishments-and-it-is-historic\/\" title=\"White House Releases List of President Trump\u2019s Accomplishments \u2013  And It Is Historic!\">southern border<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe are the first person to give the first meal, the first bottle of water,\u201d Castro said.<\/p>\n<p>Border crossings into Yuma County, where San Luis is located, fluctuate throughout the years. According to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the area where San Luis is located <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbp.gov\/newsroom\/stats\/nationwide-encounters\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>encountered<\/a> immigrants over 174,000 times in fiscal 2023. The previous year saw 310,000 encounters with immigrants. In 2024, there have been 27,000 encounters so far.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/washingtonexaminer.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title><strong>CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Castro said he gets asked daily by community members when the food ministry will reopen.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI just hope and I pray and I wait for the city of San Luis to change their mind,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Leaders of a San Luis border town church in Arizona revealed that the city has forbidden them from distributing food to immigrants and the needy, a tradition upheld for almost 25 years at Gethsemani Baptist Church near the Arizona-Mexico border. The church is dedicated to providing food assistance just a short drive from the border<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2910,"featured_media":2205931,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/wex-s3.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/food-donation-1024x592.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[538],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2205930","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-washington-examiner"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/wex-s3.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/food-donation-1024x592.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2205930","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2910"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2205930"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2205930\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2205931"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2205930"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2205930"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2205930"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}