Edith Espinal Wiki
Edith Espinal Biography
Edith Espinal said at a news conference outside the ICE building Thursday in Westerville. “I hope this can open the doors to other people who live in the sanctuary.”
Espinal was ordered by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to self-deport in 2017 after her asylum application was rejected.
The 43-year-old woman, who in 1995 fled her hometown of Michoacán in western Mexico due to violence, stayed in the United States and avoided deportation by obtaining refuge in October 2017 at the Columbus Mennonite Church in Columbus, Ohio, where he lives since 2000..
Living in the church offered him a level of protection, as the agency’s policy is to avoid detaining immigrants in schools or churches.
Edith Espinal, a 43-year-old mother of three children, rejoined her family in Columbus, Ohio, on Thursday after spending three years hiding from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement at a church
WOSU radio reported that on Thursday, Espinal appeared before ICE officials at the agency’s offices with his attorney Lizbeth Mateo, Democratic activist Morgan Harper and church pastor Joel Miller, and requested that his deportation order be revoked.
ICE denied her request, but granted her a supervision order. According to the ruling, Espinal is not subject to immediate deportation, but he must report to ICE periodically. The next scheduled registration of him is in a few months.
While there is a deportation order, Mateo said Espinal is not an ICE priority at this time.
It’s not the end of her case. We’re still going to have to fight, ‘Mateo said.
“Nothing is guaranteed tomorrow or in the next few months. So we will have to be vigilant to make sure he is safe.
The Columbus Mennonite Church provided a safe haven for Edith Espinal, a Mexican mother of three, in October 2017 after ICE informed her that she had to self-deport. She refused and found refuge in the church, which she left Thursday after ICE granted her a +7 supervision order.
The Columbus Mennonite Church provided a safe haven for Edith Espinal, a Mexican mother of three, in October 2017 after ICE informed her that she had to self-deport. She refused and found refuge in the church, which she left Thursday after ICE granted her a supervision order.
Edith Espinal meets with the press after learning that ICE had agreed to grant her a +7 supervision order
Edith Espinal meets with the press after learning that ICE had agreed to grant her a supervision order
Columbus City Council members also backed Espinal and condemned the ‘broken immigration system’ on Thursday.
‘Edith is a longtime Columbus resident and she is welcome, and until we see comprehensive federal reform to fix our broken immigration system, it is imperative that we exercise our values as a nation through common sense measures that allow her to remain. with her family, ” wrote council president pro tem Elizabeth Brown.
The news came the same day that President Joe Biden’s administration introduced a bill to reform America’s immigration system.
Edith Espinal, a Mexican national who fled her country in 1995 due to violence, still has a deportation order on file with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, but is not being considered a priority as the agency
Under Biden’s proposal, nearly 11 million undocumented immigrants living in the United States as of January 1, 2021, will be eligible to become US citizens in eight years.
They will receive a permanent residency card, also known as a ‘green card’ after five years if they pass certain requirements, including a background check, and could apply for citizenship after three years.
As part of Biden’s plan, ICE announced Thursday that it will “focus the agency’s civil immigration enforcement and removal resources on threats to national security, border security and public safety.”
Mateo hopes Espinal and other undocumented immigrants will benefit from Biden’s immigration reform bill, a far cry from the strict immigration policies enacted by the administration of former President Donald Trump.
“We are going to continue to pressure the Biden administration to do the right thing and try to get rid of that deportation order against Edith, so that she can walk freely like everyone else without fear,” Mateo said.