Asylum Seekers Take Sanctuary In Austin Churches

AUSTIN, TEXAS — A pair of asylum seekers have taken sanctuary in Austin churches after being ordered to appear in court for deportation proceedings, officials said on Monday.

Hilda Ramirez and Alirio Gamez, having taken sanctuary in St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church and First Unitarian Universalist Church, were notified this week that their requests for an extension to deferred action on their deportations were denied "...without a valid explanation as to why," officials advocating on their behalf said.

Austin Sanctuary Network officials have scheduled a press conference later on Monday outside the First Unitarian Universalist Church in raising awareness about the asylum seekers' situation.

Ramirez and Gamez, as well as Ramirez’s 12-year-old son, Ivan, were further instructed to appear at the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) field office in San Antonio on March 19, officials said, the day after their current temporary stay of deportation expires. Ramirez and Gamez believe if they attend this meeting, they will be apprehended for detention and deportatio, officials added.

Austin Sanctuary Network officials said retaliations from ICE are becoming increasingly common. Last October, Samuel Oliver-Bruno was detained and deported after appearing for his ICE check-in. And last month, ICE retaliated against Claudio Rojas, the protagonist of The Infiltrators, by detaining him during what was supposed to be normal ICE check-in.

Officials described Ramirez and Gamez as leaders of the Austin Sanctuary Network, a coalition of congregations and non-profit organizations that work in solidarity with immigrants and asylum seekers to resist deportations. Having been denied their respective applications for asylum, Ramirez and Gamez took sanctuary in the two Austin churches in 2017 and lived in sanctuary
for more than a year.

In support of the asylum seekers, U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett and Rep. Joaquin Castro contacted ICE field director Daniel Bible to ask him to consider deferred action. In October 2018, Ramirez and Gamez were determined not to be a priority for deportation, and were granted a temporary stay of deportation for five months to allow them to remain in the country. Their status when they were granted the temporary stay has not changed, officials said.

“If thousands of community members and elected officials determine that we are welcome in this community, why is ICE not listening to them and terrorizing us?" Ramirez said in a prepared statement. "They know we are not a priority for deportation, and granted us discretion and then without reason, they took it away. ICE doesn’t think they have to listen to anybody, and that’s dangerous. I am going to continue fighting because I have a community behind me and because my faith is bigger than any terror they can inflict on me.”

Gamez, who originally fled violence and threats to his life in El Salvador, reportedly is suffering from health conditions. While living in sanctuary, undocumented immigrants across the country have experienced severe mental, emotional and physical health consequences common among people in confinement, advocates noted. For Gamez, this includes developing diabetes while in sanctuary, an illness of which his family has no history, according to officials acting on his behalf. Ramirez and her son have experienced compounding trauma and mental health concerns, officials added.

Sulma Franco, an organizer with Grassroots Leadership, added: “I admire the courage Alirio, Hilda, and Ivan have. They are teaching us they are stronger than we already thought. This battle is bigger than them, it’s also for all those in sanctuary. We have to fight for their freedom.”

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