Thread: Undocumented couple takes sanctuary in Connecticut church

By Mary E. O’Leary Published 6:18 pm, Thursday, March 22, 2018

OLD LYME — The First Congregational Church of Old Lyme announced Thursday it has granted sanctuary to a married couple who Immigration and Customs Enforcement ordered to be deported.

Malik Naveed Bin Rehman and Zahida Altaftake, who have a 5-year-old U.S. citizen daughter, were allowed to take sanctuary Monday evening when they were supposed to start their journey back to Pakistan.

The Rev. Steve Jungkeit, the senior minister at the congregation, said the couple will remain in private living quarters at the church as they pursue a court appeal and possible stay of deportation.

Bin Rehman and Altaftake arrived in the U.S. in 2000, but overstayed their visas. ICE has confirmed that the pair did not take the flight to London on Monday that was the first leg of the expected trip to Pakistan.

They tried for years to extend their visas, spending some $6,000 in the process, according to a statement by the congregation leaders, but were misled by an attorney who is currently incarcerated for fraud.

The pair, who live in New Britian and own the Pizza Corner business there, have gotten that community to rally behind them, including Mayor Erin Stewart.

U.S. Sens. Richard Blumenthal and Chris Murphy, both D-Conn., the New Britain city council, the New Britain Democratic Town Committee - as well as human rights organizations, joined in the call for federal authorities to postpone the deportation of the couple while lawyers appeal their case.

“We believe that, with time and reason and compassion, the couple can receive the full, fair hearing and consideration they deserve - and that justice will prevail and they will be allowed to remain in the U.S. with their five-year-old daughter Roniya ... and extended family members. Deporting the parents would needlessly tear the family apart,” the church said in a statement.

Jungkeit said the couple’s daughter is being cared for in New Britain by friends and family so the kindergarten student can finish school this year. She will be visiting with her parents during the week and on the weekends.

Jungkeit said the congregation had briefly taken in another New Britain resident, Mariano Cardoso Sr., in December, who was also about to be deported, but he quickly was granted a stay.

The minister said there is broad, deep support for taking in persons threatened with deportation and they are prepared to house the couple for as along as is needed.

“We are committed to riding it out,” Jungkeit said.

He said the couple is safe, but worried about their situation and being separated from their daughter. “There is a lot of anxiety,” he said.

Jungkeit said a close friend of the family is continuing to run the Pizza Corner in their absence.

“As a community of faith, we have core values that bind us together. The practice of hospitality is one such defining value. We’re proud that our community can enact its commitment in a public manner, demonstrating who and what God calls us to be in this moment,” the church said.

Sajuti Sujitno has been granted sanctuary in Meriden, while Nelson Pinos is at First and Summerfield United Methodist Church in New Haven.

https://www.nhregister.com/news/arti...n-12774788.php

Deport the whole family and that child is NOT a U.S Citizen! It is a citizen of Pakistan!

And that Church needs to lose it's tax-exempt status. Churches are NOT above the law and they should not harbor, aid or abet illegal aliens!