This undocumented mom checked in with ICE without incident throughout the entirety of the Obama administration, so long as she could show she was paying her taxes with her government-issued PIN and staying out of trouble. And for eight years, she came and went from ICE’s office. But following Donald Trump’s inauguration, she was instructed to buy a one-way bus ticket to Mexico for June 30. This mom was suddenly a priority for deportation, despite having no criminal record. Pleas from the community to spare her from deportation went unheard by ICE, making Minerva Garcia the second North Carolina mom to go into sanctuary since May:
Garcia told Rewire this month that seeking refuge in a church was not something she was considering, as she had two small children and a disabled son for whom to care. As the date drew nearer, local organizer Kim Porter said, it became clear Garcia had no other options.
Garcia at the Thursday press conference sat in the first pew of Congregational United Church of Christ with her family; her two small sons wore matching striped shirts and clutched large stuffed animals, seemingly unaware of the drastic ways their lives were about to change. Faith leaders addressed the crowd and Garcia, promising to “engulf Minerva in a wave of protection.”
Minerva isn’t alone, because her two young U.S. citizen children are with her at Congregational United Church of Christ in Greensboro. Her eldest son, DACA recipient Eduardo, is blind due to cancer complications and is staying with family. Minerva also had a fourth child, who tragically died from the disease in 2007. Minerva’s story is one of strength and perseverance, of mothers who will do whatever it takes to give their families a chance. That’s been Minerva, and Juana, and an untold number of other mothers who are fighting for their families. But instead of giving them a chance to stay, the government is telling them they must go.
“Garcia’s attorney, Helen Parsonage, said her client is a symbol of everything that is wrong with the immigration system,” writes immigration reporter Tina Vasquez.
What makes Minerva’s story all the more frustrating is that she was following ICE’s exact instructions under the belief they would keep their word to her that she was at little risk of being arrested and deported. And under the Obama administration—which did attempt to prioritize who should and shouldn’t be getting deported—that was true. But following Donald Trump’s promise to ramp up the deportation machine that was already set in place, Minerva is now at risk of becoming a latest victim of a “silent raid”:
Silent raids are the increasingly common practice of ICE turning a routine check-in into deportation, either by informing the person they have 30 days to leave the country or by detaining them on the spot, according to advocates. Garcia was given a 30-day warning and made to buy her own bus ticket back to Mexico.
“Ironically, this strategy punishes people who are trying to do what the government has asked of them. Typically, they have been living in the country for a decade or more, have U.S. citizen children, and have nothing on their record that suggests they are dangerous,” the immigration reform advocacy organization America’s Voice explained in an online press statement. “They are just regular immigrants who a previous administration thought should be put at the bottom of the deportation list, as long as they continued to check-in as required.”
Now Minerva’s future rests in large part in the hands of the church that has agreed to take her in. In May, Juana Luz Tobar Ortega, an undocumented mom of four, took sanctuary in another North Carolina church. That same month, Jeanette Vizguerra, another undocumented mom of four, won a two year reprieve from deportation after nearly 90 days in a Colorado church. Now it’s the hope of Minerva and her entire community to hear the same kind of news regarding her case.
For Congregational United Church of Christ, there was no hesitation in taking in Minerva, her two children, and their pet goldfish. For them, it’s an act of holy resistance:
“There are a number of churches considering becoming sanctuary churches, and it just so happened that we were ready,” [Rev. Julie] Peeples said. “Once we heard about this family, we went to the congregation and gave a description, we asked, ‘Do we have consensus? Do we want to open our doors to them?’ And it was unanimous.”
“Hearing my mom go through all of this mess is really frustrating. I’m upset,” Eduardo said during a press conference last week announcing his mom and younger siblings would be going into sanctuary. “I need my mom. I need her to stay. I need my family to stay. They mean the world to me. I hope ICE finds it in their heart to let them stay.”
Click here to sign a petition in support of Minerva and her family.