Deportation Order Rescinded for First Immigrant to Seek Sanctuary in N C indyweek.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from indyweek.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Randolph County immigrant mom, grandmother forced to take sanctuary in a church for four years goes home
The stay of removal means Ortega can continue living in the United States, without fear, while lawyers work on her immigration status
Credit: Betsy Blake Author: Adaure Achumba Updated: 11:01 PM EDT April 20, 2021
GREENSBORO, N.C. A Triad woman has returned home and reunited with her family in Asheboro after living in a Greensboro church for almost four years.
In May 2017, Juana Ortega avoided Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention when she sought sanctuary at Saint Barnabas Episcopal Church in Greensboro. After 1482 days, the mom and grandmother learned she would not be deported.
/ Juana Tobar Ortega (center) pictured with her husband, four children, and one of her two grandchildren at an event announcing her sanctuary at St. Barnabas Episcopal Church in Greensboro in May 2017.
After spending
four years in sanctuary at St. Barnabas Episcopal Church in Greensboro, Juana Tobar Ortega, an immigrant mother from Guatemala, will not be deported by the Department of Homeland Security.
Homeland Security granted Ortega a
stay of removal Tuesday. The decision stops department agents from following through with a deportation order unless it is revoked because of an arrest or conviction.
Ortega first sought sanctuary at St. Barnabas in May 2017. DHS reissued her deportation order following a