North Carolina: Undocumented Grandmother Taking Sanctuary in Episcopal Church

HeadlineMay 31, 2017

In North Carolina, undocumented grandmother Juana Luz Tobar Ortega is seeking sanctuary in an Episcopal church today to avoid her deportation. Ortega has lived in the United States since 1992, when she fled violence in Guatemala. She works as a sewing machine operator at a textile factory near her home in Asheboro, North Carolina. Since 2011, she’s been reporting to annual required ICE check-ins without problems. But this spring, after President Trump took office, ICE officials instead ordered her to leave the country by today, May 31. Instead, she’s seeking sanctuary in efforts to remain in the United States with her four children and two grandchildren.

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