Another undocumented immigrant facing deportation takes sanctuary in New Haven church

Supporters and family protest outside of Immigration Court in Hartford on behalf of Nelson PInos who has taken sanctuary in the basement of First and Summerfield United Methodist Church in New Haven to avoid deportation on November 30, 2017. less Supporters and family protest outside of Immigration Court in Hartford on behalf of Nelson PInos who has taken sanctuary in the basement of First and Summerfield United Methodist Church in New Haven to avoid ... more Photo: Arnold Gold / Hearst Connecticut Media Photo: Arnold Gold / Hearst Connecticut Media Image 1 of / 23 Caption Close Another undocumented immigrant facing deportation takes sanctuary in New Haven church 1 / 23 Back to Gallery

NEW HAVEN — Nelson Pinos Gonzalez said it was a difficult decision, but he did not want to leave his young family behind.

Pinos, 43, took sanctuary early Thursday morning in First and Summerfield United Methodist Church, rather than get on a plane to Ecuador as ordered by Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

The church was home to Marcos Reyes Alvarez, another undocumented immigrant, for more than three months until the Department of Homeland Security let him return to his family in Meriden while his appeal to the 2nd U.S. Court of Appeals plays out.

Reyes got the word from ICE last week on the day before Thanksgiving, opening up the space potentially for another undocumented immigrant.

Pinos, a resident of New Haven, has lived in the U.S. since 1992. He is married and the father of three American citizen children — Kelly, 15; Arlly, 12, and 5-year-old Brandon. He has worked in a factory for the past 15 years and pays taxes, according to his attorney, Yazmin Rodriguez.

“Until yesterday, I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do. But in the end I decided that I’m going to fight for my family. I don’t want to leave 25 years of my life behind. Hopefully this will work out sooner than later,” Pinos said as he watched Brandon at the church.

“He doesn’t understand. He was asking me, ‘When are they going to let you go home?’” Pinos said of his youngest child.

Rodriguez said the Board of Immigration Appeals on Wednesday denied a request to reopen Pinos’ case.

She said his emergency stay request was turned down “but we are actively looking at what other legal remedies we can pursue.” The attorney said she couldn’t go into details at this point.

Rodriguez said she is working with the Yale Law School to come up with strategies to deal with the increasing number of deportation cases. Rodriguez said collaboration should boost the number of creative ideas that can benefit clients.

Pinos said he had talked to Reyes about his experience several times while he was living at First and Summerfield.

“He told me how hard it was,” Pinos said. “I don’t know how it is going to work with me. My wife can’t come because we don’t want to leave the kids alone in the house. Somebody has to be there with them, especially in the morning to send them to school.”

“Staying here is pretty much like jail,” Pinos said, although he said he is grateful to the church.

Dozens of supporters, including his children and wife, Elsa Calle, rallied in front of Immigration Court in Hartford early Thursday morning before coming back to New Haven to visit with Pinos.

“Even if he is in a church, it does not matter. He is not in his house, sleeping in his own bed. But it’s good to know all these people want to help our family,” Arlly , a student at the Betsy Ross Arts Magnet School, said at the rally.

Her sister Kelly said she was happy he chose sanctuary “because we can still fight. We will fight to the very end.”

Pinos is the breadwinner for the household as his wife stays home with the children. Kelly said her mother will look for a job “to support us as much as she can.”

Kelly said she plans to get a part-time job as soon as she turns 16 in February to help the family. She said she will stay in school. “That is what my dad wants,” the Wilbur Cross High School sophomore said.

She said more than 500 students and supporters signed postcards for delivery to ICE asking that her father be allowed to stay as he fights deportation. “Hopefully that works,” Kelly said.

Jesus Morales Sanchez of Unidad Latina en Accion, at a press conference held in the afternoon at the church, said the assistant field director at the ICE office in Hartford originally had agreed to come get the cards, but later declined. Supporters with the cards were not allowed beyond the first-floor lobby, Morales said, so the cards will be mailed.

Pinos has been supported by ULA, among other advocacy groups.

“What good is deporting a father of three? None. This man has lived and worked in the community for decades. This is what Trump’s immigration policy is about: separating families, terrorizing communities, and traumatizing children,” said John Jairo Lugo, an organizer for ULA.

Lugo said supporters have to figure out how to support the family financially. “It is going to be a very difficult situation for them,” he said.

The Rev. Paul Fleck of the Hamden Plains United Methodist Church, one of the active members of the sanctuary movement, said providing sanctuary for undocumented residents and keeping families together is fundamental to their faith. “We know this is the right thing to do as a moral matter, as a theological matter and we are very grateful to be a part of this movement,” Fleck said.

Rabbi Herbert Brockman of Mishkan Israel in Hamden is another strong supporter of the sanctuary movement.

He said we fight “for the soul of our country,” by holding hands and “by helping those people who are vulnerable to what we believe is the illegal and certainly immoral actions of our present government. This is our country. It is unfair what they are doing and as religious people we join together to shout that to the heavens. This must come to an end, these people do not deserve this,” Brockman said.

Pinos said he was grateful for the support the activists have organized on his behalf.

“People can support me emotionally. That means a lot. That’s why I am here,” he said. In the end, however, he said his freedom is in the hands of the government.

Lugo, at the press conference, said there is no guarantee that ICE would not at some time attempt to take Pinos from the church. He said they expect to put together a defense committee to prepare for how they should respond to such an event.

He said there will be someone staying at the church every night as long as Pinos is living there.

A spokesman for ICE said the sensitive locations policy is still in effect. ICE is not supposed to make arrests at such places as churches, schools, rallies and hospitals.

Pinos, according to ICE, was issued a final order of removal in 2015 by a federal immigration judge. He was granted prosecutorial discretion since then, checking in with ICE periodically until recently when ICE failed to renew it, a common occurance under the new administration.

The spokesman said failing to leave the country as scheduled will get him listed as a fugitive. Pinos continues to wear an ankle GPS bracelet and ICE has been informed of his wearabouts.

A member of U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro’s office read a statement from the congresswoman at the press conference.

“President Trump said repeatedly that his administration would target dangerous criminals and felons. Instead, his administration has focused on tearing apart families like Mr. Gonzalez’s — especially those who have been cooperating with ICE. That is counterproductive to his stated mission, and it is cruel,” DeLauro said.

mary.oleary@hearstmediact.com; 203-641-2577