Sanctuary

So, there is a Russian living in a church in BC.

Let's lay out the facts in such a distorted way so that my position on the matter is obvious:

1) Dude was a spy in the mid 1980s.
2) Dude admits he was in the KGB, which doesn't exist the way it used to, if at all
3) Everyone agrees he isn't a spy anymore, government goes as far as to say he isn't a threat
4) He has a family, including a son born here

Government wants to deport the dude. Something about him being a spy, or formerly being a spy, or deceiving the government before. I could be right, or wrong, it is irrelevant to the rest of the post.

Dude is currently taking sanctuary in a church to avoid deportation. Living, eating, showering, commie spy devil-worshipping - all in that church.

Government doesn't want to do anything about it because - he has claimed Sanctuary, and the keeper of the house has granted it to him.

Ok, so if an enemy of the sate is in my basement, and I agree to keep him there, I get charged with aiding and abetting a wanted criminal. But if a Church does it, its called sanctuary.

How is that possibly constitutional? Sure, the word "sanctuary" doesn't appear anywhere as a known defence - but jeez, certainly the equal application of other statutes is in jeopardy, no? Based on religion?