The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
NEW HAVEN An uncertain future
Woman seeking sanctuary says she has peace of mind
NEW HAVEN » Nury Chavarria seemed to have found some peace of mind Saturday as she sat with her youngest child in the Fair Haven church where she sought sanctuary Thursday to avoid being deported to Guatemala.
“We have a lot more friends now,” she said with a tired little smile. “I feel better when I have a lot of people around for me and my family.”
She and her two sons and two daughters have been through an emotionally wrenching past week, the low point coming Wednesday night when federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials denied her a stay of deportation.
But rather than obey the order to get on a plane and fly to Guatemala, she accepted the sanctuary offer from Iglesia de Dios Pentecostal Church. She moved into a small but comfortable living space with her 9-year-old daughter, Hayley.
Their future is uncertain. An ICE official Friday labeled Chavarria “a fugitive” but ICE agents generally avoid invading places of worship. When Chavarria was asked Saturday how long
FROM PAGE 1 she imagines she will remain in the church, she replied, “I don’t know yet. My lawyer is working on it.”
She conceded she might be there for many weeks. “But I’ll be comfortable. We have a lot of good people around here all the time. The pastor (Hector Otero) is a very nice person.”
Meanwhile, Chavarria’s supporters in the community and beyond continue to rally behind her. They will hold a prayer vigil tonight at 7 outside the church.
She said her kids, who range in age from 9 to 21, don’t understand why she was ordered to leave America, and she doesn’t understand it either. She is not a U.S. citizen, but her sons and daughters are, and she has never been arrested. She has had a steady job with a house-keeping company for 15 years.
But she is an undocumented resident, having fled Guatemala’s political turmoil at age 19 and. She was denied asylum here. Now 43, she has lived in America for 24 years. Her home is in Norwalk.
When she was asked again Saturday during the interview with a Register reporter to try to explain how she got into this situation, she noted she applied for asylum upon her arrival in 1993 and did at least receive a work permit.
“But in August 1999, they said I had to leave the country,” she recalled. “I got a notice in the mail. But I didn’t leave. Ten years later, they began looking for me. I applied to stay every year and they always gave permission to me.”
Chavarria was expecting another annual extension June 21 when she went to see ICE officials in Hartford. But she got a big surprise.
“They told me I had to leave the country by July 20. They put an ankle bracelet on me. There was no time to ask questions. I was in shock. Hayley was with me and we both started crying.”
Chavarria added, “I didn’t know what had changed.”
She didn’t realize that, unlike under the Obama administration, her low enforcement status had been upgraded. Under President Donald Trump, immigrants with her status, even those without criminal records, are now a priority.
Her story has drawn sympathy from Connecticut Gov. Dannel P. Malloy, U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro and U.S. Sens. Richard Blumenthal and Chris Murphy, all Democrats of Connecticut.
And financial support is coming in via gofundme. com/NuryChavarria, set up by the nonprofit Parents Together to raise money for Chavarria’s children.
Her eldest son, 21-year-old Elvin Martinez, has physical limitations from cerebral palsy, which made Chavarria even more reluctant to go back to Guatemala. She is the sole supporter of her family.
While Chavarria was speaking with a reporter Saturday afternoon at the church, Martinez and his sister, Lindsay Chavarria, 18, arrived to visit her. They had a tearful reunion, with hugs all around.
“This is the first time I’ve seen them since I left the house Thursday,” Chavarria said.
Asked how she had elected to seek sanctuary rather than accept deportation, she said, “It was a hard decision. I didn’t know what to do. But I’m happy to be here because I can keep in touch with my family and my little one is with me. If I go back to my country, I wouldn’t be able to see them for maybe 10 years.”
Hayley was bouncing around the large room which includes the partitioned area where she is living with her mom. Asked how she is feeling, Hayley said, “Good! Yesterday I had a surprise: it was like a new birthday party!”
She explained that on her real birthday, June 27, she had not been happy because she and her mom were worried about the deportation threat.
Hayley’s only down moment Saturday came when she was headed out shopping with Kica Matos, an immigrant rights worker for the Center for Community Change, and realized her mother couldn’t come with them.
“I’m sad my mom can’t come,” she said. “But if she takes one little step...”
Before she departed, Hayley said, “I’ll show you my room!” She and Chavarria went into the partitioned space, which has beds and bags full of supplies. One of the bedspreads has the words “laugh,” “live” and “love.”
Chavarria said she is very thankful to the many people who have sent gifts. She noted on Saturday a package arrived from a Waterford woman with supplies for Hayley, including crayons and drawing pads.
Chavarria said such support “makes me more strong to continue.”
When asked what she would say to President Trump if he were to visit the church, as Sen. Murphy suggested, Chavarria replied: “I’m a good, hard-working lady. I have no criminal record. I came to this country for work, to get a better life. And I pay taxes, since 1993.”
She added, “I hope that maybe the president will think about all the families, that it’s not a good thing to separate families. All the political things I don’t know. But he should have more compassion for all of us.”