Where they are now
Three people have claimed sanctuary with Denver congregations in the past three years.
Arturo Hernandez Garcia left sanctuary in 2015. He was detained for a week in late April but was released — and given a stay of removal — in time to make it to his daughter’s high school graduation. This fall, she’ll start courses at Front Range Community College; she plans to go to nursing school. Hernandez Garcia continues to fight for permanent residence. “I’m trying to recover a normal life, so I’m working a lot.” With a child in college, “I need to work overtime.”
Ingrid Encalada Latorre left sanctuary in May with a temporary stay. On Wednesday, she’ll go to court for an attempt to reopen the case for her felony conviction for possessingfalsifiedpapers,which she used work, to in a legal maneuver called collateral attack. She claims her attorney at the time misadvised her by telling her to take the plea and that it would not affect her immigration status. “It made her deportation a foregone conclusion,” said Jeff Joseph, her current immigration attorney. If the court finds that her attorney was ineffective, her case could start over again.
Jeanette Vizguerra left sanctuary in May, when she received a two-year stay of removal. She continues her work as an immigrant-rights activist and, along with Hernandez Garcia and Encalada Latorre, attended the sanctuary movement’s convention in Austin in late July.