Rosa Robles Loreto spent Saturday night surrounded by friends and supporters who helped keep her spirits up as she entered day 38 of her sanctuary stay at Southside Presbyterian church.
She is the second immigrant to seek refuge this year at the Tucson church after being threatened with deportation, and one of three sanctuary cases in Arizona since May.
Accustomed to having her time filled with work, her family and church activities, the 41-year-old mother of two said being confined inside the walls of the church brings good days and bad.
Days when she spends her time in tears, wondering if it’s all worth it, and days when she is filled with hope and the thought of keeping her family together inside the country is all that matters.
For now, she said, there are more good days than bad.
“I knew when I came in here that I was coming in to fight. Yes, it’s hard, but I have faith and I’m moving forward,” Robles Loreto said from inside the small room she shares with her husband and sons.
Robles Loreto entered sanctuary on Aug. 7, a day before a deportation order against her took effect. Her lawyer’s request that the government grant her a stay of removal was denied.
Originally from Hermosillo, Sonora, Robles Loreto has lived in Tucson since 1999 with her husband Gerardo Grijalva and their children. In 2010, she was pulled over by a Pima County sheriff’s deputy over an incorrect lane change.
When the deputy discovered she was in the country illegally, he called Border Patrol and she spent two months at the Eloy detention center.
Memories of being detained help her put the current situation in perspective. Inside the church, she is with her family and surrounded by people who care about her, she said, a far cry from when she was in Eloy.
“All of that gives me strength to keep going, this is nothing compared to what I went through,” she said.
But as in Eloy, what weighs heaviest is the sense of uncertainty. Although she’s sure that her case will be resolved, she can’t help feel the creep of desperation — if this will end, when will it end?
All she can do right now is wait. The last time she heard from the government was when they denied her petition to suspend her deportation order.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement gave a similar initial response to Daniel Neyoy Ruiz, who was in sanctuary at Southside Presbyterian from May 13 to June 9. ICE eventually granted Neyoy Ruiz a one-year stay.
But although the the Robles Loreto and Ruiz cases are similar — both would seem to fall under the Obama administration’s guidelines that immigrants with no criminal record and strong community ties be low-priority targets — advocates said there are other factors in play.
“Granting a stay is highly discretionary, and that discretion gets swayed with what’s happening politically,” said Sarah Launius, an immigrant rights activist involved in the case. “This is as much a legal intervention as trying to engage with the political reality that we’re in.”
That reality includes a lack of action on the part of President Obama, who recently delayed any executive decision on immigration until after the midterm elections, along with anti-immigrant feeling.
Robles Loreto said she has read internet comments about her case that have affected her, but she said the negative reaction has been small compared to the support she has received.
On Sept. 2, the Pima County Board of Supervisors passed a resolution that asked the federal government to close her deportation case and last Tuesday Councilman Steve Kozachik sent a letter supporting a stay of deportation.
Those efforts joined the thousands of letters, signed petitions and emails that federal immigration officials have received from supporters and religious congregations.
“The fact that Rosa is in the situation she is in now should serve as a rallying cry to people of faith everywhere that when our government fails to act with justice and compassion it is our responsibility to hold them accountable and to intervene,” said Southside pastor Alison Harrington.
Robles Loreto said she’s grateful for all the help the community has given her, and that while things may be difficult now, Tucson is where her family has made their home and she’s not ready to give up.
“I can’t imagine life anywhere than here,” she said.
