GREENSBORO â The morning after, Minerva Cisneros Garcia went to Kohls.
âI looked around and walked around smiling like crazy,â Garcia said of browsing the aisles of her favorite store that day in 2019. âI remember a few people looking at me like, âAre you OK?â â
The Winston-Salem mother of three had 24 hours earlier stood before a federal immigration judge in Charlotte in what is considered one of the toughest courtrooms in the country for appealing deportation orders.
Garcia, who is originally from Mexico, had taken sanctuary in a church to avoid being deported. She followed in the steps of Juana Luz Tobar Ortega, the Asheboro seamstress originally from Guatemala who in 2017 became the first person in North Carolina to seek sanctuary from U.S. immigration officials at a church.
Last North Carolina immigrant to take sanctuary at a church goes home religionnews.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from religionnews.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
With new executive order, this immigrant is leaving church sanctuary after 3.5 years
DURHAM, N.C. Dozens of others who took sanctuary in churches after former President Trump’s aggressive deportation policies are now checking with their lawyers to see if it might be safe for them to leave. Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove, right, with José Chicas at the School for Conversion on Dec. 17, 2019, in Raleigh, North Carolina. RNS photo by Yonat Shimron
January 21, 2021
DURHAM, N.C. (RNS) Jose Chicas, a native of El Salvador who has been living in church sanctuary for more than three years, will move out Friday (Jan. 22) after President Joe Biden signed an executive order temporarily halting the deportation of undocumented immigrants.