SALT LAKE CITY (AP) – After living in a church in Salt Lake City for more than three years to avoid deportation, Honduran immigrant Vicky Chavez stepped out with tears in her eyes on Thursday as churchgoers and friends cheered for her to be found again to celebrate freedom.
Chavez and her two young daughters took refuge at the First Unitarian Church in January 2018 after saying she fled an abusive friend in Honduras and sought asylum in the United States, but was denied.
Chavez entered the United States illegally in June 2014 and was expelled by a federal immigration judge in December 2016. After exhausting her profession in January 2018, Chavez had a plane ticket to San Pedro Sula, Honduras. Instead, she accepted an offer of the church’s sanctuary.
Chavez said she received a message from immigration and customs enforcement on Monday that she had been granted a so-called reprieve, which limits her risk of deportation for a year.
“Vicky’s life is no longer on hold,” Reverend Tom Goldsmith, the pastor of the church, told reporters. “She leaves this church with a full grasp of the English language, a few hundred friends and the confidence to pursue her dreams.”
Chavez thanked her community in the Church for helping to protect her and her daughters over the past 1,168 days and said she plans to stay in Utah.
“I have no words to thank them for giving me a safe home for over three years,” said Chavez. “Today I can say that I am full of love and happy to have arrived here.”
Salt Lake County Mayor Jenny Wilson had tears in her eyes as she congratulated Chavez and called on citizens and elected leaders to show “ more compassion ” for members of their community.
Chavez and her daughters were the first known immigrants to take refuge in Utah, according to local immigration attorneys and the state chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union.
She and her daughters slept in a converted Sunday school room and spent most of their time in another room with a TV, donkey, and games.
Skylar Anderson, Chavez’s attorney, said he was overjoyed for his client and her family, but urged elected officials in Congress to prioritize changes to the country’s immigration system and make the process easier for asylum seekers.
“There are millions of Vickys in this country – I’ve represented many,” said Anderson. “There aren’t enough churches to hold all of the Vicky’s in this country. This country must be that refuge. “
Alethea Smock, a spokeswoman for immigration and customs enforcement, had no comment on Chavez’s case on Thursday.
During his first weeks in office, President Joe Biden signed several executive orders on immigration issues that undo his predecessor’s policies, although several Republican members of Congress are pushing for legal challenges.
Others who have come out of the sanctuary since Biden took office include Jose Chicas, a 55-year-old resident of El Salvador who left a Church home in Durham, North Carolina, on January 22.
Alex Garcia, a father of five from Honduras, left a church in Mapplewood, Missouri, in February. Born in Mexico, Edith Espinal left a church in Ohio after more than three years.
Eppolito is a corps member of the Associated Press / Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a national nonprofit service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on hidden issues.