U.S. Rep. Cori Bush introduced legislation Feb. 22 to grant permanent residency to Alex Garcia, a Honduran immigrant who has lived more than three years in a Missouri church to avoid deportation.
Bush, a freshman Democrat from St. Louis, announced a private bill that would allow the married father of five to emerge from his long stay at the Christ Church United Church of Christ in Maplewood, a St. Louis suburb. The church gave him refuge starting in 2017 as the federal government sought to deport Garcia, who entered the U.S. illegally in 2004.
Garcia is among dozens of people who have taken sanctuary in churches to avoid deportation.
Fleeing poverty
Garcia fled extreme poverty and violence in Honduras. He hopped a train and ended up in Poplar Bluff, Missouri, 17 years ago. There, he landed a job and met his wife, Carly, a U.S. citizen.
In 2015, Garcia accompanied his sister to an immigration office for a check-in. Officials there realized Garcia was in the country illegally. He received two one-year reprieves, but his third request for a reprieve was denied. At that point, in 2017, the church took him in, and he has lived there ever since.
A private bill provides benefits to specific individuals and are often sought when administrative and legal remedies are exhausted. Immigration is a common issue. Only four private bills have been signed into law since 2007, Bush said.
Bush’s predecessor in Missouri’s 1st District, William Lacy Clay, also sought passage of a private bill on behalf of Garcia, but it failed to pass.
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