Nelson Pinos

NEW HAVEN - On Wednesday October 24, 2018, a rally and overnight prayer will take place outside of ICE offices. At 3pm, a press conference will happen at Hartford with Senator Blumenthal and other lawyers filing a stay request for Nelson Pinos. Later at 6 pm, a prayer will begin for Nelson and his family outside the offices. Nelson Pinos (age 43) lives in a church due to ICE rules. He has been living in the First and Summerfield United Methodist church for almost a year. ICE (Immigrations and Customs Enforcement), has a policy that they will not deport immigrants who are living in a church, hospital, or school. Pinos is an illegal immigrant, so if he leaves the church, then there is a chance that ICE could deport him.

Although, in a recent interview with Assistant Chief Counsel of ICE Courtney Gates-Graceson, she said that it is probably a political statement, because ICE would probably not take him away if he has not done crimes.

Kelly Pinos (Nelson’s 16 year old daughter) wrote to New York Times. She said that for five years her father has been going to immigrant officials to request to stay in the country and they have approved this whole time. However, by last October, everything had changed. ICE wanted to deport Nelson back to his home country, Ecuador by November 30, 2017. Pinos had come to America 20 ago, was not undocumented, and did not have any criminal records. He paid his taxes and worked hard for himself and his family. His children were all born in New Haven and are all American citizens. It was devastating for his kids and his wife to see a officer put a monitor on his right ankle. Since Nelson does not want to leave his family in CT, they drove to Summerfield United Methodist Church in downtown New Haven, and he claimed sanctuary. ICE knows where he is, but as long as he does not step out of the church, he is safe. “What am I supposed to do? I am helpless,” Pinos told New York Times. Although, being in the church has made Nelson depressed and has made him feel useless, he still encourages his children to move forward and to progress in their grades. Nelson Pinos really wants to be free, but he cannot because of ICE rules.