This undocumented mom checked in with ICE without incident throughout the entirety of the Obama administration, so long as she could show she was paying her taxes with her government-issued PIN and staying out of trouble. And for eight years, she came and went from ICE’s office. But following Donald Trump’s inauguration, she was instructed to buy a one-way bus ticket to Mexico for June 30. This mom was suddenly a priority for deportation, despite having no criminal record. Pleas from the community to spare her from deportation went unheard by ICE, making Minerva Garcia the second North Carolina mom to go into sanctuary since May:
Garcia told Rewire this month that seeking refuge in a church was not something she was considering, as she had two small children and a disabled son for whom to care. As the date drew nearer, local organizer Kim Porter said, it became clear Garcia had no other options.
Garcia at the Thursday press conference sat in the first pew of Congregational United Church of Christ with her family; her two small sons wore matching striped shirts and clutched large stuffed animals, seemingly unaware of the drastic ways their lives were about to change. Faith leaders addressed the crowd and Garcia, promising to “engulf Minerva in a wave of protection.”
Minerva isn’t alone, because her two young U.S. citizen children are with her at Congregational United Church of Christ in Greensboro. Her eldest son, DACA recipient Eduardo, is blind due to cancer complications and is staying with family. Minerva also had a fourth child, who tragically died from the disease in 2007. Minerva’s story is one of strength and perseverance, of mothers who will do whatever it takes to give their families a chance. That’s been Minerva, and Juana, and an untold number of other mothers who are fighting for their families. But instead of giving them a chance to stay, the government is telling them they must go.
“Garcia’s attorney, Helen Parsonage, said her client is a symbol of everything that is wrong with the immigration system,” writes immigration reporter Tina Vasquez.