After five weeks in a Seattle church, immigrant still has hope

SEATTLE, Washington (AP):

For the past five and a half weeks, Jose Robles has been confined to Gethsemane Lutheran Church in downtown Seattle, where he sought sanctuary in late June to avoid deportation to his native Mexico.

It's there that he awaits word on his other two options: Approval of a U-Visa, which is given to certain undocumented immigrants who are victims of a crime, or a decision by the Board of Immigration Appeals to reopen his case.

Having worked for 18 years as a painter, Robles says he gets anxious about his current situation.

"I miss the routine," he said in Spanish. "There's nothing to do here except wait."

He tells himself it's better than going back to Michoacan, Mexico, one of five Mexican states the US Department of State warns travellers to avoid due to crime.

Outside his room, Robles can walk up a staircase to a bathroom. Downstairs is where he goes to eat and shower. There's another room down the hall where he watches television. His only access to the outside is a small, gated courtyard that faces Ninth Avenue, where he goes to relax, smoke a cigarette or exercise.

He said he misses the weekends the most, when he would spend time with his family at social gatherings. Now he feels like a caged lion, pacing back and forth between the courtyard and his room, he said.

Sandy Restrepo, Robles' lawyer, believes he's the only person in Washington state avoiding deportation by finding sanctuary in a church. Restrepo is the co-founder of Colectiva Legal del Pueblo, an organisation that provides legal services to undocumented immigrants.

Robles was referred to Gethsemane Lutheran Church by The Church Council of Greater Seattle, which is connected to more than 300 religious congregations. His family keeps him fed by bringing in food from the outside.

The modern sanctuary movement began in the 1980s, when religious leaders were housing Central Americans fleeing conflict and seeking refuge in the US.

According to Church World Service, which keeps track of people in sanctuary, there were 37 people in the US living in churches in 2017 to avoid being deported and only nine were able to leave sanctuary with "some sort of reprieve".

Churches are considered "sensitive locations" by Immigration Customs and Enforcement (ICE). This means that unless authorised by a judge, ICE generally won't try to detain Robles while he's inside the church.