Denver mom facing deportation seeks sanctuary at local Quaker Meeting House

DENVER -- A Denver mom who is facing deportation asked for sanctuary Wednesday at a Quaker Meeting House in southeast Denver.

Ingrid Encalada LaTorre told Denver7 she has lived in the U.S. for nearly half her life.

“My sons need me at home where I belong,” she said, through an interpreter.

Encalada LaTorre was ensnared into the deportation process when officials discovered that she used false papers to work at a nursing home.

She has a stay of deportation application pending with the Washington, D.C. office of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and has been waiting for a response since Nov. 24.

“Since Bryant started school, I have always picked him up,” she said. “I make sure he does his homework and we spend a lot of time together.”

The 33-year old said her younger son, Anibal, just had his first birthday and is in physical therapy.

“I am doing this to not only stop my own deportation,” she said, “but also to raise awareness that there are thousands of others like me. People whose only offense was to work and pay into the social safety net and whose only desire is to live safely with our families.”

In a news release, David Poundstone, of the Mountain View Friends Meeting, said, “We welcome Ingrid, Bryant, Anibal and Eliseo with open arms. Since we joined in supporting the work of the Metro Denver Sanctuary Coalition two years ago, we have learned much in accompanying our immigrant brothers and sister in their struggle to keep their families together.”

Poundstone said, “We cannot stand idly by and let our government threaten the integrity of families. We feel called upon to engage in civil initiative to invoke the tradition of sanctuary to protect those under threat of harm.  We publicly demand discretion and humane treatment by our government to protect the basic human right to keep families together, where they have lived and worked among us. We have come to know them and love them as our friends and neighbors. We call on Secretary Saldana to grant Ingrid a stay.”