Arturo Hernandez Garcia has left the building.
The 42-year-old Mexican, who for the past nine months has been living in the basement of a Denver church to avoid deportation, received a letter from immigration officials telling him he is no longer an enforcement priority.
“It’s not over,” Garcia, who claimed sanctuary in October at the First Unitarian Society near Cheesman Park, said Tuesday of the battle that lies ahead of him.
Garcia says he looks forward to sleeping in his own bed at his family’s Thornton home and getting back to his flooring work as soon as possible.
“I like this country,” Garcia said. “I live in Colorado for 16 years. It’s the country of my daughters. It’s the land of opportunity.”
His first order of business outside of the sanctuary was a walk around the block with his wife and two daughters.
Garcia said he plans to be outside as much as possible over the next few days.
Garcia’s story became a focal point in the immigration debate after drawing the attention of national media outlets and for his embodiment of the highly charged issue.
A group of Denver activists and religious leaders petitioned high-ranking U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials in a Washington, D.C., meeting to review Garcia’s case last month. On June 22, a week after their meeting, Garcia’s petition to the government for relief, after roughly six denied attempts, was recognized.
Garcia finally opened the doors to his adopted church home on Tuesday after working through the legal loopholes and cautiously re-entered the outside world.
He struggled to describe his elation.
“Literally thousands of people have been giving small donations over the last nine months,” said Jennifer Piper, of the American Friends Service Committee.
Garcia came to the attention of immigration officers in 2010 after an altercation at a job site where he and his crew were laying floor tile, he says. He was arrested and later found innocent of charges in the encounter, but ICE nevertheless issued an order of deportation, he said.
Garcia entered the United States in 1999 and married his wife Ana, 40. The couple had two girls, Mariana, 16, and Andrea, 10.
Garcia remained in the United States after his visa expired. His wife’s father is a citizen, and her mother has legal permanent resident status. The couple has unsuccessfully petitioned the government to allow him to stay.
While Garcia’s reprieve is seen as a victory to Denver immigration activists, it could have much broader impacts.
“It provides immigrants rights advocates with a concrete example of how community organizing and mobilization can have a meaningful impact,” said César Cuauhtémoc García Hernández, a visiting professor at the University of Denver’s law school who focuses on how immigration law and criminal law intersect.
García Hernández said the same tactics could be replicated throughout the country.
Immigration attorney Laura Lichter, who represents Garcia, said at a morning news conference announcing the end of her client’s sanctuary that the letter doesn’t mean the struggle is over.
“Arturo didn’t get a get- out-of-jail-free card,” Lichter said. “He does not get a free pass.”
As for the future, Garcia says he just wants to get home.
“I don’t feel completely comfortable,” he said. “I need more. I need legal status first.”
Jesse Paul: 303-954-1733, jpaul@denverpost.com or twitter.com/JesseAPaul
