Stay Of Deportation Requested For Mom At UWS Sanctuary

UPPER WEST SIDE, NY — Politicians and immigration advocates from New York City and Westchester County asked U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to consider a stay of deportation for Deborah Barrios-Vasquez — a mother of two who took sanctuary last week at the Upper West Side's Church of Saint Paul and Saint Andrew.

After circling 26 Federal Plaza in lower Manhattan seven times during the New Sanctuary Coalition's "Jericho Walk" the delegation entered the federal office building and delivered their request to regional ICE officials.

ICE assistant directors refused to accept the application for a stay of removal because Barrios-Vasquez does not have her passport with her, New York State Assemblyman Harvey Epstein Thursday. Epstein — who represents parts of the East Village and Murray Hill neighborhoods — called the refusal "really inappropriate" and said that applicants do not need their passports.

"It's just a way to ensure Ms. Barrios will not be able to remain in this country," Epstein said. "She's got children that live here, she's committed to this community, she's lived here with more than 10 years and her children need her here."

Barrios-Vasquez has been living in sanctuary at the Church of Saint Paul and Saint Andrew on West 86th Street and West End Avenue since May 14.

While the Trump Administration's policy to separate families attempting to cross the southern border has received a lot of attention recently, families in communities all over the country face separations due to deportation, Peekskill City Council Member Vanessa Agudelo said Thursday.

"We have to look in our own backyards and our communities and see how we can help the families that are currently being torn apart here," Agudelo said. "What are we doing for them? Because children are suffering huge traumas of having their parents separated."

Barrios-Vasquez — the mother of a 10-year-old boy and 2-year-old girl both born in the United States — is currently fighting to get her case in front of a judge and have her deportation overturned. She is one of many immigrants currently taking sanctuary at churches in Manhattan. A family of four took sanctuary at Washington Heights's Holyrood Church in August of 2017 and another mother of two took sanctuary at The Fourth Universalist Society church on the Upper West Side in March.

Photo by Brendan Krisel/Patch