November 19, 2007   •   VOL. 45, NO. 20   •   Oakland, CA

East Bay churches form New Sanctuary Movement to advocate for immigrant families facing deportation
 

Maria Sanchez and her husband Agustin, who face a deportation order, recount how unscrupulous lawyers took advantage of their immigration status. JOSE LUIS AGUIRRE PHOTO

By Jose Luis Aguirre
El Heraldo Catolico

In 1992 Maria Sanchez and her husband Agustín decided to leave Mexico for the United States, hoping to give a better future to their two children. Three more children were born here. Now the family is in crisis because the parents, undocumented residents, face a deportation order.

“We want to remain in this country to have the opportunity to raise our children here. This is their home; all their friends live here, their relatives are here,” said Maria at a community forum at Community Presbyterian Church in Pittsburg last month.
“I do not want to return to Mexico. I re--member some days that we had nothing to eat when we lived there; now, it would be more difficult to return with five children,” she said.

Trying to help the Sanchez family and other immigrants who are in the same situation, Contra Costa faith leaders have opened their churches to offer moral, spiritual, legal, and economic support through the New Sanctuary Movement. It patterns its efforts after an earlier sanctuary movement that provided refuge to people fleeing the civil wars in Central America in the 1980s.

Father Hugo Hernandez, parochial administrator at St. Francis Assisi Parish in Concord and a member of the new movement, says that the Church’s mission is to protect and to plead for those in need.

“We all know that we have to follow the laws, but we do not agree with the way that the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency is applying them. Nobody likes to see his or her family divided; that’s why we plead for family unity and we fight so that this country does not construct walls to divide, but bridges to unite.”

Juliana Sanchez and her two sisters listen as their parents tell why they want to remain in the United States rather than return to their native Mexico. JOSE LUIS AGUIRRE PHOTO

Looking for a work permit, thousands of immigrants deposit not only their hope but also thousands of dollars into the hands of unscrupulous lawyers who promise to give them this document in three months. But in the end, the lawyers expose them to a deportation process without warning.

This was the case of the Sanchez family who went to one of these lawyers.
“Many of our friends obtained the work permit in just a short period of time and we wanted to do the same,” said Maria. What she did not know was that the happiness of having this document would soon be ruined by an immigration judge who ruled that their case had no possibilities and that they have to leave the country.

Undeterred, Maria continues to ask for permission to stay in this country to continue working, especially for her 13-year-old daughter who suffers from a rare disease that is gradually paralyzing her body.

“If I must return to Mexico, what I am going to do with her?” the mother asked.
“Here, she receives medical assistance, the doctor sees her twice a month, she has therapists and neurologists who are monitoring her disease, and in her school she also receives support because she has learning disabilities,” Maria said.

“I do not want to go back to Mexico” asserts the girl who cannot contain her tears. “I would miss my doctors and my friends a lot.”Her mother reiterates, “It is not easy to think that now we must leave everything that we have and force our children to grow up in a country that they do not know and where they will not have the same opportunities.”

Agustín Sanchez believes that finding an honest lawyer is indispensable. After losing more than $11,000 in legal expenses, the couple said they prefer to be without documents and not to be submerged in this nightmare.

“What is happening to us today can happen to others,” Agustin said. “We do not want them to live with the anguish that we are living now. We recommend that they make sure that no one will take advantage of them.”

Maria, who works as a house cleaner, and Agustín, a mechanic, decided to share their history publicly because they have the support of the New Sanctuary Movement and because they hope other congregations will join the effort.

To legislators and others involved in immigration reform, Maria has a message.
“You cannot be unjust. I humbly ask you not to be so cruel with us. Please with open mind and heart think about the children who are in the middle of this situation because they are the ones who are suffering the most with the separation of their families. We come to this country to work hard to build and look for a better future for them.”
For more information on the New Sanctuary Movement, contact Charlene Tschirhart at (510) 205-4434.

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