Illegals hiding from deportation in churches face heavy fines

The former classroom at the United Methodist Church in Charlottesville, Virginia, became a haven for Mary Chavalan Suth from Guatemala. The woman has been living there for months already 10, having equipped a small kitchen in the corner, as well as a place to sleep.

Фото: Depositphotos

So she tries to avoid being deported to her native country, which, according to her, has damaged her life as a result of violence, injuries and discrimination. This way of evading deportation can now cost her at least 214 132 dollars in fine, writes Fox Business.

Chavalan Sut is one of the illegal immigrants hiding from deportation in religious institutions who receive letters from the US immigration authorities with threats of huge fines that have become possible due to the latest move by the Donald Trump administration. It is unclear how many immigrants received such threats, but the World Service of Churches, an organization that supports refugees and immigrants, knows at least six people who have received such letters.

“Where can I get this money? I don’t know,” said Chavalan-Sut, who worked at a restaurant after arriving in Virginia more than two years ago but was unable to find work after being forced to flee deportation.

On the subject: Immediately and without trial: the Trump administration tightened the rules for the deportation of immigrants

Chavalan Sut came to Wesley Memorial United Methodist Church 30 on September, the day she was ordered to appear in the United States Immigration and Customs Services (ICE) for deportation. She crossed the US border in November 2016, and was immediately detained near Laredo, Texas. According to her, she accepted the decision to emigrate from Guatemala and leave her four children after her house was set on fire.

44-year-old Chavalan-Sut doesn't know who set fire to their house when she, her children, and their father slept inside. But she believes that this was due to claims to the land to which she is entitled as a representative of the country's indigenous population.

Chavalan Sut said that local firefighters refused to investigate the cause of the fire, because no one died in the fire.

Immigrants hide from deportation in religious institutions, since immigration officers usually do not carry out arrests and other coercive actions there. There are currently 45 illegal immigrants in churches throughout the United States seeking salvation from deportation, there were only three of them in 2015.

Among them are Abby Arevalo-Herrera from Honduras and Edith Espinal-Moreno from Mexico. Arevalo-Herrera has been living in the First Unitary Universalist Church in Richmond, Virginia, since June 2018; and Espinal Moreno has been living in the Colonus Mennonite Church in Columbus, Ohio, since October 2017.

Like Chavalan-Sut, both women received penalty notices. All three letters were dated June 25. Arevalo-Herrera was fined $295 and Espinal-Moreno was fined $630.

Lawyers, activists and religious leaders have condemned the policy of applying fines. Krish O'Mara Vinyaraja, president and chief executive officer of the Lutheran Immigration and Refugees Service, described them as “scare tactics.”

On the subject: Trump administration will deport privileged green card holders

Wesley Memorial United Methodist Church joined the movement of religious shelters for illegal immigrants after an immigrant rights activist contacted Rev. Isaac Collins asking for help. The 31-year-old pastor admitted that he had heard other pastors express concern over the confusion of religion and politics, but for him turning his church into a refuge was not a political step: it was a decision based on Christian ethics.

“To begin with, Mary is a person who is in trouble and needs a safe place, this intersects very strongly with the Christian idea of ​​hospitality, human rights and love for our neighbors. The church is a space that can provide security, it is a neutral space while it searches for the right course of action,” he explained.

From Chavalan South, he can talk to his children, who are now 7, 11, 14 and 21 for a year, ensuring that the youngest do homework. She left them all under the supervision of other members of her family in Guatemala City. Thoughts about them cause a woman to tears.

A woman who is very devout prays and cares daily for the garden with flowers, herbs and vegetables. She also sews cloth bags that her son sent to her from Guatemala. She has no right to sell these products, but accepts donations in exchange for them. From time to time she cooks tamale and other traditional dishes of her native country in a large church kitchen.

Volunteers buy products for women. Some help her to learn English. All volunteers were asked to ask to present an official order in case there are immigration officers in the church.

The church also provided Chavalan-Sut with a therapist. The fire in her home is just one of many traumatic events she says she has experienced as a member of the Kaqchikel ethnic group, a local Mayan group. As a 7-year-old girl living in the Guatemalan highlands during the country's 1960-1996 civil war, she saw her cousins ​​buried alive.

Indigenous communities have been hardest hit during the protracted conflict in Guatemala. Rachel Nolan, an assistant professor at Boston University, whose research includes the civil wars in Central America, said that the Kakchikel group experienced discrimination and violence. According to her, while the peace agreements signed in 1996 for the most part put an end to the massacres, indigenous peoples continue to face violence and injustice, including the deprivation of their lands.

On the subject: Deportation of your own accord: why emigrants return back

Carissa Catrell, a spokeswoman for the US Immigration and Customs Service, said the judge ordered the deportation of Chavalan Sut after she did not attend the immigration hearing in July 2017. The woman’s lawyer said that this happened because the notice of the court hearing was handed over to the defendant without specifying the date and time. According to human rights activists, this often happens in immigration matters.

Chavalan Sut's petition for the resumption of her case was rejected in July 2018. An appeal filed in December is pending with the Immigration Appeals Board.

The Immigration and Citizenship Act allows the agency to impose civil penalties on individuals who have been ordered to voluntarily leave the United States, but they have not left the country. Penalties are calculated at the rate of 799 dollars per day, starting from the date when the immigrant hid in a shelter to avoid deportation.

Immigrants who receive notice of fines have 30 days to challenge them in writing or request an interview for clarification, but in this case they must leave their shelters, which is risky for them. It is unclear whether any of the immigrants, including Chavalan Sut, filed documents to challenge the fines.

Read also on ForumDaily:

13-year-old immigrant hanged herself because her father was denied asylum in the US

An illegal immigrant from Russia has been starving in an American prison for almost a month now: he does not want to return home

How ICE agents track down and arrest immigrants

Do you want more important and interesting news about life in the USA and immigration to America? — support us donate! Also subscribe to our page Facebook. Select the “Priority in display” option and read us first. Also, don't forget to subscribe to our РєР ° РЅР ° Р »РІ Telegram  and Instagram- there is a lot of interesting things there. And join thousands of readers ForumDaily New York — there you will find a lot of interesting and positive information about life in the metropolis.