Guatemalan Living in Church Sanctuary for Three Years Granted Relief

etts church for more than three yearsh as been granted a reprieve to remain in the country for now. Maria Macario was issued a one-year stay of her deportation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials earlier this week, according to Rev. John Gibbons of the First Parish church in Bedford.  Gibbons discusses sanctuary in the video above.  The stay allows Macario to obtain a work permit, pursue legal options and come and go from the church without fear of being apprehended by immigration officers, the pastor said in an email.

Macario was ordered to leave the country years ago after her family unsuccessfully sought asylum. Her husband and eldest son were deported, prompting her to take sanctuary at First Parish.

Macario was among more than 70 immigrants nationwide who took shelter in churches during President Donald Trump’s administration. Churches have long been treated as off-limits for immigration enforcement.

Last month, a Honduran man left a church in Maplewood, Missouri, that he’d been living in for more than three years, following assurances from ICE that it would not pursue his detention or removal.

KJ