Mother takes sanctuary at Chicago church after federal judge blocks deportation ban
Mother takes sanctuary at Chicago church after federal judge blocks deportation ban
A woman who took sanctuary in a Humboldt Park church for three and a half years to avoid being deported under the Trump administration briefly left over the weekend to be with her family in the suburbs. However, on the advice of her lawyer, she has now returned to the church.
CHICAGO - A woman who took sanctuary in a Humboldt Park church for three and a half years to avoid being deported under the Trump administration briefly left over the weekend to be with her family in the suburbs.
However, on the advice of her lawyer, she has now returned to the church.
"I feel safer here because this is a sanctuary. I know that they're not allowed to come in here and I feel more safer being here than being at home or somewhere else," Francisca Lino said through a translator.
Lino spent two days with her family before her lawyer advised her to return to the Adalberto Memorial United Methodist Church on West Division Street.
"Now that they told her that she had to come back, especially her twins, they were really sad. They started crying," a translator said on behalf of Lino.
President Joe Biden announced a 100-day "pause" on some deportations, but a federal judge blocked it earlier this week, at least for the next 14 days.
"She has faith that, you know, the law goes back that she's able to go back to her house and if she has to stay here longer, then she would do it, doing it for her family and for her kids," the translator said.
The lawyer has advised Lino to remain at the church for the next 14 days, at which point they will re-assess whether it is safe for her to return to the suburban home where her family lives, all of whom are US citizens.