{"id":486020,"date":"2017-12-19T09:47:25","date_gmt":"2017-12-19T16:47:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/?p=486020"},"modified":"2017-12-20T15:32:32","modified_gmt":"2017-12-20T22:32:32","slug":"churches-emerge-as-important-refuge-for-immigrants","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2017\/12\/churches-emerge-as-important-refuge-for-immigrants\/","title":{"rendered":"Churches emerge as important refuge for immigrants"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Martha Lorena Rivera of Alamogordo had been checking in with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) since 2011 to renew a stay of removal she said she\u2019s been given annually for humanitarian reasons. In past years she received approval in the mail, but this year was different.<\/p>\n<p>On the morning of Oct. 10, her \u201cworld came down,\u201d she said in an interview with New Mexico In Depth. When she presented her application in late September at the El Paso ICE processing center, agents gave her a follow-up appointment for two weeks later.<\/p>\n<p>Rivera was nervous, dropping her daughter at school before heading to El Paso for the appointment. She was denied, and no reason was given. The mother of three was granted a few days to sort out plans for her 8-year-old daughter, Bella. After placing a tracking device on her ankle, ICE allowed Rivera to turn herself in by Oct. 16.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/w30cA9kBUMA\" width=\"771\" height=\"433\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><span data-mce-type=\"bookmark\" style=\"display: inline-block; width: 0px; overflow: hidden; line-height: 0;\" class=\"mce_SELRES_start\">\ufeff<\/span><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Rivera said those extra days just weren\u2019t enough time to get her affairs in order. Her daughter Bella is a U.S. citizen who has underdeveloped lungs and is a special needs student. Rivera separated from her spouse in 2009, and she is the only caregiver for Bella, who has never lived in Mexico.<\/p>\n<p>Rivera has two older children, a son in Dallas, and a daughter who is a student at the University of New Mexico who is registered in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.<\/p>\n<p>During the few days ICE gave her to wrap up her affairs, Rivera did not eat or sleep.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBut in front of my daughter, I was strong. However, she knew something was happening,\u201d Rivera said.<\/p>\n<p>Rivera looked for a sanctuary in Alamogordo, but couldn\u2019t find anyplace that would let her in. What came next was an answer to her prayers. A friend called her.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"module align-left half type-aside\">\n<h3>About this article<\/h3>\n<p>This article comes from\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/nmindepth.com\/2017\/12\/18\/churches-emerge-as-important-refuge-for-immigrants\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">New Mexico In Depth<\/a>. Sign up for\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/nmindepth.us6.list-manage.com\/subscribe?u=1d2ab093d81b992e50978b363&amp;id=9294743d38\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">their newsletter<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/aside>\n<p>\u201cGod put this person in my path,\u201d Rivera said.<\/p>\n<p>Rivera shared her situation with her friend, who answered by referring her to \u201cCAF\u00e9.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy would I want coffee?\u201d she said as she chuckled. \u201cNo, seriously, that is what I thought!\u201d<\/p>\n<p>New Mexico Communidades en Accion y de F\u00e9 (CAF\u00e9) is a Las Cruces-based multifaith community group that shifted most of its focus to supporting local immigrant communities when Donald Trump won the 2016 presidential election, taking seriously indications he\u2019d move to deport undocumented immigrants.<\/p>\n<p>CAF\u00e9 took on Rivera\u2019s case, and immediately contacted Father Tom Smith at Holy Cross Retreat Center in Las Cruces.<\/p>\n<p>Rivera is the second person to receive sanctuary at the center and at least the third immigrant to seek refuge in a church in New Mexico this year. She will be staying at Holy Cross until her case is heard.<\/p>\n<h3>Call of the Gospel drives church to provide refuge<\/h3>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/vgRwpjKf2yE\" width=\"771\" height=\"433\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><span data-mce-type=\"bookmark\" style=\"display: inline-block; width: 0px; overflow: hidden; line-height: 0;\" class=\"mce_SELRES_start\">\ufeff<\/span><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s the call of the Gospel,\u201d said Smith, in an interview, about why Holy Cross took Rivera in. \u201c\u2026we are to provide food for the hungry, shelter for the homeless, and care for those in need. \u2026 These are people who can not return to their home because immigration officials would pick them up, they know where they live, and they would be deported.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Smith said his hope is two-fold: to raise awareness about the plight of those in fear of deportation, and to help local people recognize the unfairness and lack of necessity to deport such people. He draws a distinction between Rivera and one other immigrant currently provided refuge at Holy Cross, Jorge Taborda, and those who may have committed criminal acts.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf they were running away from the law, as a criminal, I\u2019d say, &#8216;I\u2019m sorry we\u2019ll not accept you,&#8217; \u201d he said.\u201cThat\u2019s not the case\u201d in the plights of Rivera and Taborda.<!--more--><\/p>\n<p>Smith said Holy Cross has the support of Bishop Oscar Cant\u00fa of the Diocese of Las Cruces as well as Franciscan church leaders in Rome.<\/p>\n<p>Smith expects that more people threatened with deportation may come to the center for help, but he said it only has room for eight people and some space has been reserved by groups seeking to hold retreats there. And he is clear to say that immigrants seeking refuge at Holy Cross are still threatened with deportation.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPeople use the term &#8216;sanctuary.&#8217; We choose to use &#8216;Franciscan hospitality,&#8217; because sanctuary seems to imply that they are safe,\u201d Smith said. \u201cBut if immigration officials come with a search warrant, with their name, and signed by a judge, I cannot do anything about that.\u201d<\/p>\n<h3>No reason given for deportation<\/h3>\n<p>Rivera meets all the qualifications set forth by the Department of Homeland Security for a stay of removal, according to Johana Bencomo, a CAF\u00e9 community organizer, who noted Rivera\u2019s annual approvals since 2011.<\/p>\n<p>ICE provides a\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.ice.gov\/sites\/default\/files\/documents\/Document\/2017\/ice_form_i_246.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">number of factors<\/a>\u00a0that can determine the denial of an application:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Failure to submit medical documentation that supports your reason for this request, if applicable<\/li>\n<li>Failure to submit your statement or summary that explains why you submitted this request<\/li>\n<li>Record of criminal activity<\/li>\n<li>Threat to self or others<\/li>\n<li>Inaccurate, incomplete or untruthful information<\/li>\n<li>Not currently under a final order of deportation or removal<\/li>\n<li>Discretion of the field office director or design<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>There have been no changes to Rivera\u2019s application, according to Bencomo.<\/p>\n<p>New Mexico In Depth sought answers from the agency, but a spokesperson at the El Paso processing center refused to comment about Rivera\u2019s case.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn Martha\u2019s case, we are working to engage our members of Congress like Senator Heinrich, Senator Udall, even Congressman Pearce to advocate on her behalf,\u201d Bencomo said.<\/p>\n<p>In the meantime, Rivera\u2019s son, a citizen through marriage, has petitioned for his mother to gain residency.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat I want to ask from the community is to support us, because it\u2019s obvious that not everyone does, but those who do, I ask for them to be our voice, to talk for us and to defend us,\u201d Rivera said.<\/p>\n<p><em>Films were produced by Xchelzin Pe\u00f1a, who holds New Mexico In Depth\u2019s\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/nmindepth.com\/new-mexico-in-depth-journalism-fellowship-for-students-of-color\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">2017\/2018 fellowship<\/a>\u00a0for a current or recently graduated journalism student at New Mexico State University<\/em>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Martha Lorena Rivera is the second person to receive sanctuary at a Las Cruces center and at least the third immigrant to seek refuge in a church in New Mexico this year.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":486033,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[3283,140,145],"class_list":["post-486020","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-and-analysis","tag-alamogordo","tag-border-and-immigration","tag-las-cruces"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/486020","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=486020"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/486020\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/486033"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=486020"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=486020"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=486020"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}