Honduran woman who sought sanctuary in a church will not be deported
Rosa del Carmen Ortez Cruz at the door to the kitchen at the church where she took sanctuary from deportation in North Carolina, February 27, 2020. (RNS photo/Yonat Shimron)
For nearly two years Rosa del Carmen Ortez-Cruz took sanctuary from deportation at the Church of Reconciliation, not knowing if she would ever be able to emerge from her confinement.
On February 26, a three-judge panel of the US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit ruled that immigration authorities may not deport her. The unanimous ruling means Ortez-Cruz will be entitled to stay and work in the United States for the foreseeable future.
“I feel like there’s been a weight lifted from on top of me,” Ortez-Cruz told Religion News Service. “I still have some fear, but I feel more secure. Now I know if they come after me, they’d have to release me.”
