Favorable Prosecutorial Discretion Exercised for Church Members in North Carolina

From the National Network for Immigrant and Refugee Rights:

Rebecca Fontaine of the Southern Coalition for Social Justice reports that 18 members of the Buen Pastor Church in North Carolina have been given prosecutorial discretion. One member was denied, and three have cases with merits being argued in court. Two years ago the families were stopped in Louisiana as they returned home to Raleigh from an annual jubilee in Texas, called the “Santa Cena” or “Holy Week.” The vans were not cited with any traffic violations; rather, the stop and the arrests were motivated by CBP’s suspicion — based on Latino appearance — that the church members may be undocumented. Online petitions, calls and faxes pressed for their release and safety from deportation.

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