Fines against immigrants seeking sanctuary in US to end
FOX 13
and last updated 2021-04-28 14:22:04-04
SALT LAKE CITY â A Trump-era policy that authorized U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to issue thousands of dollars in fines to immigrants who sought sanctuary in this country has now ended, according to an announcement from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.
âKnowing that we have won one more victory against the previous government makes us continue with the hope of having the future for which we are fighting. . . . Thank you Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and Acting ICE Director Tae Johnson for making a compassionate decision on the side of justice,â said sanctuary leader Vicky Chavez, who has taken sanctuary at First Unitarian Church of Salt Lake City.
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Analysis By
Jennifer Doherty | February 26, 2021, 8:36 PM EST
For immigration attorney Lizbeth Mateo, her clients cases are personal the outcomes could affect her own removal proceedings someday. (Photo courtesy of Lizbeth Mateo/Optimist Films)
Before immigration attorney Lizbeth Mateo accompanied her client, Edith Espinal, into U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement s office in Westerville, Ohio, on Feb. 18, she made a routine call to her assistant back in California.
Like her client, Mateo lacks legal documents to reside in the U.S., and she knew that either of them could be detained upon arrival a possibility that could affect her work on other cases. Espinal was scared preparing for the encounter, she told Law360 through an interpreter, but had faith in her attorney.
Lizbeth Mateo wants young undocumented people to know they can achieve their dreams.
Mateo, 36, is an undocumented immigrant and an attorney in California who is featured in The Undocumented Lawyer, an 18-minute documentary released last week on HBO. It details her life and her work with Edith Espinal, an undocumented immigrant who was in sanctuary in a Columbus church for more than three years.
Documentary filmmakers Chris Temple and Zach Ingrasci followed Mateo for about two years as she worked with Espinal who is featured heavily in the film traveling frequently from Mateo s home in Los Angeles to Columbus to see her client.