New Haven - A single mother of four has taken refuge
in a Connecticut church after federal authorities ordered her
deported to her native Guatemala as part of President Donald
Trump's crackdown on unauthorized immigrants in the United
States.
Nury Chavarria, who moved to the United States in 1993 to
seek asylum from political turmoil and violence at home, was
supposed to board a plane to Guatemala on Thursday.
Instead the 43-year-old housekeeper took sanctuary at
Iglesia De Dios Pentecostal in New Haven, Connecticut. She is a
single mother of four children aged 9 to 21. All of her children
were born in the United States, automatically giving them
citizenship. Her eldest has cerebral palsy.
Her original asylum request was denied, and she has
technically been living illegally in the United States since
1999. Chavarria has been granted stays of removal on
humanitarian grounds as she has raised her children.
Connecticut Governor Dannel Malloy has expressed his support
for Chavarria and met with her inside the church on Thursday
evening. He told reporters that the state is "not able to do
much" for her given her fugitive status.
On Friday, he wrote in a tweet, "#NuryChavarria is a mother
and has no criminal record. She is welcome in our state."
Federal immigration agents have generally respected the
tradition of not crossing the threshold of houses of worship to
make arrests.
When Trump was elected in November, he vowed to deport 2
million to 3 million illegal immigrants. In the first few months
of his presidency, arrests have risen, but actual deportations
have fallen by 12 percent compared to the same period under
President Barack Obama.
"We have opened the doors of our congregation to serve Ms.
Chavarria as a sanctuary church," Pastor Héctor Otero of
Iglesisa De Dios Pentecostal told the media through a translator
on Thursday.
In April, Pastor Otero told the New Haven Register that his
congregants were committed to providing short-term sanctuary to
immigrants facing deportation, but that they may not have
capacity to support sanctuary seekers for an extended period of
time.
Chavarria has long been on the radar of immigration
officials. She was allowed to voluntarily depart when her case
was reviewed in 1998, according to Khaalid Walls, spokesperson
for the U.S. Immigration Customs Enforcement.
She was subject to final order of removal in 1999. After
years of stays, she was told to buy a plane ticket to Guatemala
at her last annual check-in with the ICE in June.