Mexican Undocumented Immigrant Daniel Neyoy Ruiz Seeks Shelter From Deportation In Arizona Church

Daniel Neyoy Ruiz, a 36-year-old maintenance supervisor at an apartment complex in Tucson, Arizona, came to the U.S. illegally from the Mexican state of Sinaloa in 2000 before being ordered deported from the country following a traffic stop in 2011, remains holed up in a Tucson church in an attempt to avoid being separated from his wife and 13-year-old son, a U.S. citizen. "We are well, we are comfortable," he told the Guardian on Friday, two days after entering Southside Presbyterian -- a church which earned a reputation as a sanctuary for Central Americans fleeing bloody civil wars in the 1980s. “We are grateful for the support of the church and so many people. I will stay here as long as it takes to get a favorable ruling.”

The paper also reports that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) authorities say they will not pursue Neyoy Ruiz in the church despite the outstanding removal order against him, saying in a statement that “after conducting a thorough review of Mr. Ruiz’s immigration case, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has decided to exercise prosecutorial discretion by not taking immediate action on Mr. Ruiz’s removal order.” His lawyer has filed an application for a stay order and says she’ll continue to petition the government for forms of protection from deportation.

Reuters notes that Neyoy Ruiz is the second high-profile case of an undocumented immigrant who sought refuge from deportation in a church. Mexican immigration activist Elvira Arellano evaded Chicago authorities for over a year in 2006 before being deported for using fake credentials to work as an airplane cleaner at O’Hare International Airport. Arellano is actually back in the United States after joining a group of about 150 activists in a March protest at the U.S.-Mexico border, where she requested entry on humanitarian grounds. Last week, she took part in a march in San Antonio asking city council officials to support a resolution calling for a moratorium on deportations.