By Aliah Luna
On the evening of Tuesday, Nov. 10, I was lucky enough to be invited by Ms. Ginger Arzani, Social Worker at Pueblo and an advocate of immigration reform, to witness Ms. Rosa Robles-Loreto’s announcement that she was leaving the Southside Presbyterian Church after 461 days of living there in sanctuary. With tear-filled eyes, she said that she was returning back home to her family the next day.
“I feel relieved and free,” she said.
Local media was not invited to this event, so being asked to be a part of history meant a great deal to me.
As an undocumented immigrant, Robles took sanctuary inside the Southside Presbyterian Church for more than 15 months. She finally grew frustrated remaining in sanctuary separated from her family. She decided that it was time to return to living her life as a loving mother and wife—leaving behind this country’s broken immigration laws.
Robles entered the doors of the church on August 7, 2014, when U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement entered a final order of deportation against her. She has lived peacefully in the U.S. since 1999.
For 461 days, Robles cooked her family’s meals in the church kitchen and spent nights sleeping in a Sunday school room. Robles and members of the Tucson faith community gathered every evening and prayed for Robles and others who were experiencing difficulties and challenges with this country’s immigration laws.
As a school reporter and photographer for the journalism program, attending this gathering on the eve of Robles’ departure from the Church gave me a sense of how colossal this issue is and how Robles and others in her situation have been adversely affected by this country’s unfairness regarding illegal immigration laws. Those in attendance were very emotional about Robles’ decision to leave. Towards the end of the evening, everybody lit their candles, passing the flame on to their neighbor—all in celebration of Robles returning home.
Nobody knows Robles’ fate regarding her immigration status, but returning to being a mother and a wife was worth the risk.
Nearly 10,000 “We Stand With Rosa” signs have been placed around Tucson, especially throughout downtown, along 4th Avenue, and the Armory Park are, not to mention in schools across the city. Just because Robles is home does not mean that these signs should come down.
Arzani said, “People are encouraged to keep their “We Stand With Rosa” signs visible until immigration laws change. These signs should stay up for years to represent the changes that need to take place in immigration.”