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Amanda Morales-Guerra and her three US born children have been living in this NYC church since August 17, 2017...five months next Wednesday. When Amanda fled Guatemala in 2004, she would have qualified for asylum but did not know to apply for it until after the one year deadline had passed. Amanda and her family are hopeful but have been denied even a chance to explain their situation over and over again. How many more families are suffering like theirs throughout this country? Why do we deliberately make it difficult for people like Amanda, who just wants to be given a chance to live here with her family...legally?

Hear their story, and see what their life is like in Sanctuary in this 360º (VR) video story.

MORE INFORMATION:
Thanks to a recent justice driven crowd funding site, Amanda has secured new legal representation. Here is an update provided by her lawyer on December 13:

Hello Donors!

My name is Geoff Kagan-Trenchard, I’m Amanda’s lawyer. Thank you so much for all your help. I have an update on the case. In September we asked the court in Texas that ordered Amanda deported in 2004 to reopen her case. Because of the way the Immigration Laws are written, the only legal argument we were allowed to make was that Guatemala had become so much more dangerous since she left the case should be reopened. We asked the court to allow her to have a fair day in court. We provided half a dozen reputable news sources, State Department travel warnings, and even included sworn affidavits from her brothers who were in the military on how the cartel had targeted her family.

The judge denied our motion anyway.

Our next step is to petition the Board of Immigration Appeals to reopen her case. We’ll also be asking that they grant her the Stay of Deportation that ICE has denied. This would allow her to leave the church with her children and not worry she could be detained at any moment.

I’ll also be working with experts on cartel violence in the region to prepare written testimony about exactly how dangerous it would be for Amanda if she were forced to return. I’ll be working with the social workers and therapists that have been supporting Amanda and her children to show how ICE’s actions are traumatizing them. I’ll be consulting with other attorneys who are experts in this very complicated specialization in an already complicated area of law. And even then, success is by no means guaranteed. We appreciate any help you can provide, even if it’s just resharing this page (https://www.crowdjustice.com/case/support-for-amanda-morales-gue/).

I also want you to know that I haven’t taken any of this money for my fees, and won’t until Amanda is able to leave the church. I want to make sure that if Amanda is detained and needs to pay a Bond in order to be released, we have a bail fund ready to go.

Thank you again,
Geoff