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Protesters took over the Benjamin Franklin Parkway on June 6, 2020. (Kimberly Paynter/WHYY)
When Joe Biden becomes president on Jan. 20, he was greeted by a broad, relatively new network of grassroots organizers who are hoping to hold him to his many campaign promises.
Over the last four years, the political landscape has changed a lot for Democrats. Galvanized by Donald Trump’s election, progressive groups sprang up across purple states like Pennsylvania. They cropped up in cities like Philadelphia, developed in affluent, historically Republican suburbs, and even rebounded in some historically Democratic rural areas that had flipped to Trump.
Facing Deportation, They Fled to the Safety of a Church. Now They Are Free.
A Jamaican couple spent nearly two and a half years inside Philadelphia churches, isolated even further by the pandemic. This month, U.S. immigration officials relented.
Clive and Oneita Thompson fled gang violence in Jamaica in 2004 and sought asylum in the United States.Credit.Tyger Williams/The Philadelphia Inquirer, via Associated Press
Dec. 24, 2020
Hand in hand, Oneita and Clive Thompson danced out of the Tabernacle United Church in Philadelphia, their fists raised in victory. The Jamaican couple had spent nearly two and a half years living in churches to avoid deportation.
By Jeff Gammage
The Philadelphia Inquirer/TNS
PHILADELPHIA - Clive and Oneita Thompson half-stepped, half-danced from the stone steps of a Philadelphia church Monday morning, ending more than two years in sanctuary and walking - free from the threat of deportation - into a cheering community of friends, clergy and supporters.
Smiling and pumping their fists, the undocumented Jamaican couple were met by applause, whistles, bells, tambourines, and noisemakers at a socially distanced celebration outside the Tabernacle United Church in University City.
Oneita’s voice caught Monday as she described their time inside church walls, never knowing whether government-ordered removal would separate her and her husband from their seven children, all of whom are citizens or live legally in the United States.
Undocumented Jamaican couple celebrate freedom after more than two years in Philly church sanctuary inquirer.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from inquirer.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.