SAN DIEGO - Local religious leaders joined a national campaign Wednesday to offer sanctuary to illegal immigrants who have been ordered to leave the country.

The New Sanctuary Movement is a national campaign inspired by a religious sanctuary effort in the 1980s in which religious groups gave shelter to illegal immigrants and refugees from Central America.

As part of the campaign to influence the immigration reform debate in Congress, other congregations held similar ceremonies in Los Angeles, Seattle, Chicago and New York.

Immigration authorities, interviewed Wednesday after churches said they would join the sanctuary movement, did not say whether they would target religious sanctuaries but said they would enforce immigration laws.

Marco Castillo, an illegal immigrant who came to San Diego as a child from Mexico, was offered symbolic sanctuary by an interfaith group Wednesday at the Plymouth Congregational Church in North Park.

While in high school, Castillo, 25, was elected senior class president and homecoming king at Crawford High School in San Diego. He graduated from San Diego State University and owns a graphic design business.

Speaking at the event, he said his parents brought him to San Diego when he was 4 years old on a temporary visa and he never left. The federal government wants him deported. Now, he is appealing his removal from the country and his case is pending in the 9th U.S. District Court of Appeals.

Religious leaders pledged to help Castillo and many others fighting to stay in the country. But they declined to say how far they would go beyond the symbolic gesture of sanctuary.

"There is no illegal activity going on at this time," said Rabbi Laurie Coskey, a spokeswoman for the campaign in San Diego. "In our country, it is not illegal to take care of a human being."

Coskey said there were houses of worship in several parts of the county that were considering giving sanctuary to people with deportation orders, including Pilgrim United Church of Christ in Carlsbad.

The Rev. Madison Shockley, of the Carlsbad church, said he supports the campaign, but added that the congregation had not made a decision on whether it would be a host.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokeswoman Virginia Kice declined to say if agents would attempt to arrest those who take sanctuary in churches, although she did say agents have "the authority to arrest those who are in violation of our immigration laws anywhere in the United States."

Campaign organizers said they hope their efforts will influence the debate over immigration reform in Washington, D.C. The U.S. Senate is scheduled to begin a debate on immigration reform on Monday.

Coskey said the group wants a reform plan that provides an opportunity for illegal immigrants to stay.

"We are hoping, through these stories, to put a human face on immigration," Coskey said.

Outside the Plymouth Congregational Church, a group of about a dozen anti-illegal immigration activists waving American flags and picket signs protested the sanctuary campaign.

"We're saying that these people don't speak for us," said Jeff Schwilk, founder of the North County-based San Diego Minutemen, who was among those protesting. "They don't speak for all Christians. They don't speak for the majority of Christians. Christian want secure borders."

In response to the sanctuary campaign, Schwilk's group began offering a $100 reward through its Web site for information leading to the deportation of illegal immigrants living or working in the county.

Schwilk said his group would also monitor houses of worship that give sanctuary to illegal immigrants.

Religious leaders, including Imam Taha Hassane of the Islamic Center of San Diego, the Rev. Scott Richardson of St. Paul's Episcopal Cathedral and Clerk David Barrows of the Quaker San Diego Friends Meeting, said they were taking a moral stand for immigrant rights.

For his part, Castillo said he barely remembers Mexico City, where he lived as a child, and wouldn't know where to go if he was deported.

About 10 years ago, his family hired a lawyer to help them, but the lawyer filed an application to legalize their status under a law that had expired. Castillo, his mom, and one of his sisters have been in legal limbo ever since, he said.

Asked what he would do if his appeal was denied, Castillo said, "San Diego is my home … I don't know anything else. That's all I can say about that. This is my home."

- The Associated Press contributed to this report. Contact staff writer Edward Sifuentes at (760) 740-3511 or esifuentes@nctimes.com.