SALT LAKE CITY (AP) – After more than three years living in a Salt Lake City church to avoid deportation, Honduran immigrant Vicky Chavez left on Thursday with tears in her eyes as congregants and church friends left. they encouraged them to celebrate their new freedom.
Chávez and his two young daughters took refuge in the First Unitarian Church in January 2018 after he said he fled an abusive boyfriend in Honduras and sought asylum in the United States, but was denied.
Chávez entered the United States illegally in June 2014 and was ordered by a federal immigration judge to expel her in December 2016. After exhausting her appeals in January 2018, Chávez had a plane ticket to San Pedro Sula, Honduras. Instead, he accepted an offer of church sanctuary.
Chávez said he received an Immigration and Customs Control notice on Monday that had granted him the so-called suspension of removal, which limits the risk of being deported for a year.
“Vicky’s life is no longer in suspense,” Church Rev. Tom Goldsmith, a church minister, told reporters. “He leaves this church with a complete understanding of the English language, a couple of hundred friends and the confidence to pursue his dreams.”
Chavez thanked her community at the church for helping her stay safe for herself and her daughters for the past 1,168 days and said she plans to stay in Utah.
“I have no words to thank them for giving me a safe house for more than three years,” Chávez said. “Today I can say that I am full of love and happy to have come here.”
Salt Lake County Mayor Jenny Wilson had tears in her eyes as she congratulated Chávez and called on citizens and elected leaders to have “more compassion” for members of their communities.
Chávez and his daughters were the first known immigrants to take sanctuary in Utah, according to local immigration advocates and the state chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union.
She and her daughters slept in a converted Sunday school room and spent most of their time in another room with TV, easel, and games.
Chávez’s lawyer, Skylar Anderson, said he was very happy for his client and family, but urged elected officials in Congress to prioritize changes to the nation’s immigration system and make the process easier for those seeking asylum.
“There are millions of Vickys in this country: I’ve represented many of them,” Anderson said. “There are not enough churches to give sanctuary to all the Vickys in this country. This country must be this sanctuary ”.
Alethea Smock, a spokeswoman for Immigration and Customs Enforcement, made no comment Thursday on Chávez’s case.
In his first weeks in office, President Joe Biden signed several executive orders on immigration issues that undo the policies of his predecessor, although several Republican members of Congress are pushing for legal challenges.
Others who have left the shrine since Biden took office are Jose Chicas, a 55-year-old savior from El Salvador who left a church home in Durham, North Carolina, on Jan. 22.
Alex Garcia, a father of five from Honduras, left a church in Mapplewood, Missouri, in February. Edith Espinal, a native of Mexico, left an Ohio church after more than three years.
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