Immigrant Dad, Facing Deportation, Seeks Sanctuary In Chicago Church
(CBS) – An immigration drama is playing out in Chicago, as the U.S. Supreme Court considers President Obama's executive action that would shield 4 million non-documented immigrants from deportation.
CBS 2's Vince Gerasole reports from Hyde Park, where a Bolingbrook man is seeking sanctuary.
His name is Jose Juan Moreno.
To avoid deportation, the husband and father of five has come to University Church seeking sanctuary. He's settled into a sparse room there, he says, in order to keep his family together.
He says he's "fighting for my wife, for my family."
Moreno admits he has lived in the U.S. illegally for 15 years. With his wife, he has been raising five U.S.-born children in southwest suburban Bolingbrook.
Federal authorities, however, had ordered him to leave the U.S. by last week.
University Church stepped in, granting him sanctuary, saying the Christian faith compels them to help Moreno.
Moreno was convicted of aggravated misdemeanor DUI in 2009, which initiated deportation proceedings.
Federal officials say Moreno is a deportation priority because he's been convicted of a significant crime and because he's "an immigration fugitive."
His family may be able to visit him at the church, but for Moreno one step beyond the grounds could cause him to be deported. He's hoping U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement reconsiders.
"I love my family, and I live for my family," Moreno says.
Federal officials acknowledge enforcement actions don't occur at schools or churches unless there are pressing circumstances. That would seem to mean that, for now, Moreno will remain at the church hoping for some sort of change of heart in his case.