TEMPE

Guatemalan man seeks asylum in Tempe church

Andrew Romanov
The Republic | azcentral.com

A Guatemalan man took refuge in a Tempe church Thursday morning in an effort to avoid deportation, joining two other undocumented immigrants who have gone to houses of worship in Arizona in recent months seeking asylum from Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.

It's been seven years since Luis Lopez-Acabal illegally immigrated to the United States from Guatemala as a 16-year-old. He stood Thursday in the sanctuary of a Tempe church with his family and the Rev. Eric Ledermann, who said Lopez-Acabal has asked ICE for a reprieve from deportation two times since he was involved in a traffic incident and was denied both times.

"I am a legal resident, and I have already requested for him to fix his status through me, but that was also denied," said Lopez-Acabal's wife, Mayra Canales, who spoke through an interpreter.

Ledermann, who is the pastor of University Presbyterian Church near Mill Avenue and Broadway Road, said Lopez-Acabal works so that Canales can take care of her young children, one of whom has autism. Lederman said Lopez-Acabal has taken in his wife's children, who are both U.S. citizens, as his own.

"I am afraid immigration is going to go to my house," Lopez-Acabal said through an interpreter. "I believe that here I'm going to be able to actually stay with my family. I have two children and I want to stay with them here in the U.S."

A local ICE spokeswoman said Thursday that ICE "has not taken Mr. Lopez into custody and has no plans to do so at this time."

Lopez-Acabal is in deportation proceedings as a direct result of the "minor" traffic infraction, according to his supporters. A representative of the Phoenix Restoration Project, which works with faith organizations to support undocumented immigrants, said Lopez-Acabal's traffic infraction happened in Scottsdale in 2007 and resulted in a civil citation. Further details were not available Thursday.

Ledermann said Lopez-Acabal asked the community for help, and church leaders were happy to lend a hand.

"The elders of University Presbyterian Church felt compelled by God to step up and stand on the side of justice," Ledermann said. "We're accepting Luis's request for sanctuary here on our property for as long as it takes."

Lopez-Acabal's sanctuary at the church was organized by the Phoenix Restoration Project. Cyndi Whitmore is a volunteer with the organization and worked on Lopez-Acabal's case.

"We've been doing outreach with faith communities for some time," Whitmore said. "People in faith communities are becoming frustrated with the traditional avenues they advocated in the past that aren't effective in finding protections for people who are just trying to keep their families together."

The Rev. Sue Ringler of the Guardian Angels Catholic Community, who was among religious leaders at the event, said it is important for religious communities and interfaith groups to be a part of these movements.

"We need to not be in our closed-up rooms, praying with people who are already there, but a resource for the community," Ringler said. "We need to be a place where folks can come who are battered and bruised and denied rights, and to advocate due process."

Lopez-Acabal is the third person in Arizona to seek sanctuary in a church this summer.

Marco Tulio Coss Ponce reached an agreement with federal officials hours before he planned to take sanctuary in a Phoenix church in June. In May, a Mexican man violated an order to leave the U.S. by taking sanctuary in a Tucson church. Federal officials have since granted him a one-year stay.