Honduran immigrant Alex García left a church after several years in sanctuary

St. Louis, February 25 (RHC)-- In the U.S. state of Missouri, Honduran immigrant Alex García left a church in the St. Louis suburb of Maplewood Wednesday, after spending more than 1,200 days living in sanctuary. The Trump administration had scheduled the married father of five to be deported in 2017. 

García emerged from sanctuary after freshman Missouri Congressmember Cori Bush introduced a “private bill” to grant him permanent residency.

In other news, longtime immigration activist Marco Saavedra has won political asylum, setting a legal precedent for undocumented activists seeking refugee status in the United States. 

Marco Saavedra was born to an Indigenous family in Oaxaca, Mexico, and taken to the U.S. as a child.  He has been involved in several high-profile immigration actions.  In 2012, Saavedra purposely got arrested by federal authorities to infiltrate the privately owned Broward Transitional Center in Florida, where he helped organize imprisoned asylum seekers.