Houses of worship are considered safe places, because ICE guidelines generally bar agents from taking action inside churches, hospitals, and schools. Keep within the walls, migrants know, and they can stay in the country to fight their legal cases. In Arizona, a Mexican man is nearing three years inside a Phoenix church. But dare to step outside, and immigration authorities may be waiting. Last year in North Carolina, a Mexican man was arrested after 11 months in sanctuary when he left a Durham church for what he thought would be a brief meeting about his case.