Sanctuary:
Woman gets stay of deportation
An immigrant mother of twowho sought sanctuary at a Denver church has received a temporary stay from deportation.
The reprieve will allow Ingrid Encalada Latorre, a native of Peru who came to the U.S. unlawfully, to continue her appeal of a 2010 case in which she pleaded guilty to a felony charge for possessing falsified or stolen identification papers that she used to get work.
Her newattorney, Jeff Joseph, announced Saturday that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials agreed to not pursue deportation throughaug. 7 to allow the local court to rule on the case.
Latorre is seeking to withdraw the plea because she received deficient legal coun- selwho suggested the guilty pleawould not affect her immigration status. She is scheduled for another court hearing July 7.
“Ingrid has a due process right to have her day in court, and unfortunately that right was squandered by previous attorneys,” he said. “This is a situation where had those attorneys not messed up Ingrid’s case, we probably wouldn’t be here today.”
The decision drew cheers and chants of “Sí, se puede” (Spanish for “Yes, we can”) from those gathered at the home of the Mountainviewfriendsmeeting in Denver, where Latorre sought refuge in December to avoid deportation.
Through a translator, Latorre said she most looked forward to going home with her children, ages 8 and 17 months, both of whom were born in the United States. “I’m happy,” she said with a huge smile.
Two other immigrants, Jeanettevizguerra and Arturo Hernandez Garcia, who sought sanctuary in Denver churches, received two-year stays from deportation earlier this month.
Vizguerra, the mother of four who took sanctuary in a Denver church in February andwas named one oftime magazine’s 100 most influential people in the world, applauded the decision in Latorre’s case but said “two months is not enough for a family.”
“We are women, we are fighters, we are strugglers, we are organizers andwe are going to keep organizing,” Vizguerra said through a translator.
An ICE spokesman said he could not immediately confirm the details of Latorre’s case.