MORRISVILLE, N.C. _ After living almost a year in a Durham church, an undocumented man was arrested Friday by immigration officers when he left the church to keep an appointment with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services in Morrisville.
Samuel Oliver-Bruno, 47, has been living in the basement of CityWell United Methodist Church for 11 months because churches are one of the few places where U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement does not make arrests.
USCIS requested Oliver-Bruno to appear in person to provide fingerprints, a necessary step for his petition for deferred deportation, according to a news release from Alerta Migratoria, an immigrants rights advocacy organization in North Carolina.
Oliver-Bruno was accompanied by faith leaders, family members and other supporters Friday morning, but once inside the USCIS office he was arrested by immigration authorities.
When asked by The News & Observer why Oliver-Bruno was arrested, ICE spokesperson Bryan Cox said in an email:
"U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrested unlawfully present Mexican national Samuel Oliver-Bruno during a targeted enforcement action Nov. 23 in metro Raleigh, North Carolina.
"Mr. Oliver-Bruno is a convicted criminal who has received all appropriate legal process under federal law, has no outstanding appeals, and has no legal basis to remain in the U.S."
Oliver-Bruno was taken out a back door and put into a van, which was then surrounded by his supporters.
Oliver-Bruno's son, Daniel Oliver Perez, a U.S. citizen, was arrested in the parking lot after approaching the van to say goodbye to his father. Law enforcement at the scene did not tell The N&O reporter why the 19-year-old was arrested. CityWell's pastor, Cleve May, was also arrested at the protest.
Last year, ICE notified Oliver-Bruno the agency would no longer practice discretion for his removal, so he left his home in Greenville and moved into CityWell to be out ICE's reach. The agency generally doesn't arrest undocumented immigrants in churches, schools or hospitals, based on an internal self-imposed policy established in 2012.
Virdiana Martinez, Alerta Migratoria's director, said Oliver-Bruno knew he was taking a risk by leaving the church, and an even bigger risk by walking into an immigration office so that his petition could be considered.
Oliver-Bruno is one of six immigrants in the state who is living on church properties to avoid imminent deportation and buy time to delay deportation. These churches are called "sanctuary churches" and are part of a national growing faith-based movement.
"By them leaving the church and entering these (immigration) offices they are essentially putting themselves in harm's way ... to make this request," Martinez said.
Alerta Migratoria has been making regular visits to Washington D.C. to advocate for these six immigrants and obtain support from their respective Congress members.
Reps. David Price and G.K. Butterfield, both Democrats, co-signed a support letter asking USCIS to give Oliver-Bruno prosecutorial discretion.
"We strongly believe Mr. Oliver-Bruno is someone who is deserving of deferred action," reads the letter, which was signed Nov. 1.
Since he moved into the church Oliver-Bruno has stopped working in construction. He is the sole financial support for his wife, Julia Perez Pacheco, and son. His wife has lupus and depends financially on her husband to pay for treatment.
"Mr. Oliver-Bruno is the sole income earner for his family and his removal from the country would result in his wife being unable to receive the medical treatment she desperately needs ," according to the letter.
"Daniel is 19 years old and his ability to better himself through the pursuit of a college degree is dependent upon his father's financial and emotional assistance, which Mr. Oliver-Bruno would be unable to provide should he be removed from the country."
Martinez has also been talking with Republican U.S. Sen. Thom Tillis' office to obtain his support for Oliver-Bruno and the five others.
Oliver-Bruno left Mexico in 1994 to live in Greenville. His wife followed him in 1996 with a work permit.
In May 2014, Oliver-Bruno said he tried to cross the U.S.-Mexico border again to be with his wife, who was undergoing open heart surgery in the U.S.
Oliver-Bruno was arrested at the border because he attempted to enter the country using fraudulent documents, according to ICE's statement. The U.S. government solely allowed him to enter the country for federal criminal prosecution. He was convicted in the U.S. District Court for the Western District.
"Given he had completed his federal sentence, he had been released from federal criminal custody in June 2014, he came into this agency's custody at that time and was subject to removal at that time. However, due to a variety of appeals and acts of discretion he was not removed," Cox said.
