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Monday • 02.05.2018 • $2.00
STENGER DONOR WON MARKETING DEAL IN COUNTY • Port Authority’s goal was to boost area’s image after 2014 Ferguson shooting, unrest • Winning firm had little track record, wasn’t low bidder • Despite touted ties with Montel Williams, little seems to have been accomplished
SCREENSHOT FROM KTVI VIDEO
In 2015, ex-TV talk show host Montel Williams testified before a Missouri House committee in support of legislation to legalize medicinal marijuana.
Four Missouri legislative seats up for grabs Tuesday House seats have been held by Republicans; Democrats hoping to shift momentum
BY JACOB BARKER • St. Louis Post-Dispatch
BY JACK SUNTRUP • St. Louis Post-Dispatch
It had been almost two years since social unrest that started in Ferguson rocked the region. But in May 2016, the St. Louis County Port Authority decided the St. Louis area needed a marketing strategy. Sheila Sweeney, CEO of the St. Louis Economic Development Partnership, which staffs St. Louis County economic development agencies such as the Port Authority, proposed spending up to $100,000 on the effort. A firm would be hired to develop a communications strategy to “limit and mitigate the negative effects of social unrest in St. Louis County and begin to promote the region to itself and other communities,” according to Port Authority meeting minutes. Yet the firm that won the contract, Cardinal Creative Consulting, didn’t have much of a track
JEFFERSON CITY • Democrats around the
See CONTRACT • Page A6
See DEMOCRATS • Page A7
With ‘Jesus knocking,’ church steps up to help
country have seized legislative seats held by Republicans in the past year, but Missouri Democrats have flailed, unable to flip anything. On Tuesday, Democrats get four more chances to make a dent in the GOP supermajority in the Missouri House, with four special elections to fill vacancies in the lower chamber. All of the seats were previously held by Republicans. The closest contest to St. Louis will be in the Jefferson County-based 97th District, a seat sought by Republican David Linton and Democrat Mike Revis. Farther south, Republican Chris Dinkins faces Democrat Jim Scaggs in the 144th District, which takes in all of Iron County and parts of Reynolds, Washington and Wayne counties. The two remaining races are in rural western
Ruff weather, but the pet parade goes on
LAURIE SKRIVAN • lskrivan@post-dispatch.com
Dog owner Stephen Hine of St. Louis snuggles with his dog Newman during the 25th annual Beggin’ Pet Parade in Soulard on Sunday. BY ASHLEY JOST • St. Louis Post-Dispatch
ST. LOUIS • It was 29 degrees when the first few poodles and mutts crossed the finish line of the 25th annual Beggin’ Pet Parade. The crowds this year were a little light, but the enthusiasm was still high. “I shouldn’t be able to move on this street,” Jackie Wibbenmeyer said. “It’s usually filled with dogs and people.” She was talking about 12th Street just north of Russell Boulevard in Soulard. That’s where See PARADE • Page A6 LAURIE SKRIVAN • lskrivan@post-dispatch.com
“I feel safe here and good here. It’s one way I am able to be here (in the U.S.) and see my family. I am waiting for some hope,” said Alex Garcia, who sits for a portrait on Jan. 28 in Christ Church United Church of Christ in Maplewood. Garcia took sanctuary in the church in September after he was told to report for deportation.
Maplewood congregation takes in undocumented immigrant when he faces deportation after 13 years in this country BY DOUG MOORE St. Louis Post-Dispatch
MAPLEWOOD • Alex Garcia is not a
religious man, but he thanks God for the brick church on the corner of Bellevue and Bruno avenues. It has been his home for the past four months, a sanctuary from deportation. He lives in a makeshift apartment in the basement, more than 150 miles from his wife and five children in Poplar Bluff, Mo. Garcia came to the United States
from Honduras 13 years ago, looking for work and for an escape from an unstable country. He found a job, then love, and began building a family and a steady income working construction. A few years back, he caught the attention of the federal agency charged with enforcing immigration laws. Twice, he got a one-year reprieve to stay in the country. But last summer, under a new administration, his third request was denied. He was told in September to report to an office of U.S. Immigration and Customs En-
forcement, better known as ICE. He was being sent back to the country he fled. Instead, he showed up at the doorstep of Christ Church United Church of Christ, a congregation that “welcomes all. No exceptions.” The platform of acceptance the church has stood proudly on for decades would be put to the test like never before. With the arrival of Garcia, the church was wading into murky See SANCTUARY • Page A11
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“It feels so safe and good here. I’m waiting for hope from here.” Alex Garcia, who bides his time at Christ Church Maplewood doing odd jobs such as painting classrooms and caulking windows.
PHOTOS BY LAURIE SKRIVAN • lskrivan@post-dispatch.com
“My idea of a good weekend is just being with my husband and my kids,” said Carly Garcia, who drives their five children from their home in Poplar Bluff, Mo., to spend time with her husband and their dad, Alex Garcia.
Alex Garcia attends service with his wife and five children on Jan. 28 in Christ Church United Church of Christ in Maplewood. Garcia was living in Rolla, Mo., when Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials ordered Garcia, an undocumented immigrant, to report for deportation. A group contacted the church about taking in Garcia.
“I want to stay,” mumbles AriannaLee, 3, while struggling to say goodbye to her dad, Alex Garcia, during the last minutes of her weekend visit on Jan. 28 at Christ Church United Church of Christ in Maplewood.
“Be strong,” says Mauddux, 10, as he hugs his mom, Carly Garcia, as the kids drag out saying goodbye to their dad, Alex Garcia, on Jan. 28 at a church in Maplewood.
02.05.2018 • MONDAY • M 1
FROM A1
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH • A11
PHOTOS BY LAURIE SKRIVAN • lskrivan@post-dispatch.com
“I like being busy and time goes by quicker if I am working,” said Alex Garcia, who paints the GED room on Jan. 28 in a Maplewood church where he has taken sanctuary. Garcia, an undocumented immigrant and former construction worker, has become the handyman in the church since living in sanctuary there since September.
Maplewood church opens doors to immigrant his small town. “The police department has not received any concerns,” Kruse said. “However, if Immigration and Customs Enforcement asks for our assistance, we are required to provide it.”
SANCTUARY • FROM A1
legal waters and an uncertainty of exactly what toll it would take on the small group of worshippers. After President Donald Trump was elected in November 2016, the church’s peace and justice committee began meeting to discuss ways to help vulnerable populations and decided to focus on immigrants. The parishioners started small with the question: “How can we make St. Louis more welcoming?” But that led to a harder question, said Pastor Rebecca Turner. “If someone presents for sanctuary, will we take them into the building to protect them from deportation?” Turner began using the pulpit to educate the congregation on immigration challenges and what was at stake for those trying to stay in the country lawfully. One Sunday morning in September, she turned to the Book of Matthew. “Jesus says that when someone comes to us in need, we are to treat him as Jesus himself,” Turner said in explaining the Scripture. “If we don’t provide, it’s, in essence, turning Jesus away.” The next day, she received a call from a social justice agency that works with undocumented Latin Americans. There is a man who is facing deportation. He needs a place to stay. A sanctuary protecting him from federal officials. “There was simply no way we could not say yes,” Turner said. “We’ve got Jesus knocking at the door.”
PROTECTED, NOT HIDDEN Two Sundays ago, Garcia, 36, sat in a pew near the front, his wife, Carly, by his side. Their five children were a hive of activity around them. The morning service was about to begin. Every other weekend or so, Carly loads up the kids, ages 3 to 11, in her SUV for a trip to see Dad. It’s a 2½-hour drive to St. Louis. It’s not easy, she said, but it’s better than the alternative — Alex more than 1,500 miles away, in Central America. The little ones are too young to realize why Dad is no longer at home. “They just think he is at work,” Carly, 30, said. It’s a blended family. Alex had two children when he met Carly; she had one. Together, they had two more. Alex landed in the small Bootheel area town by accident. His initial destination into the U.S. was Houston, but he said he stayed on the train and kept going. He’s not sure why. It was raining when he got off the train in 2004. He saw two men working on a garage and stopped in for shelter. They took him to a Mexican restaurant so he could talk to someone who spoke Spanish. That led to a job on the spot, which he held for seven years before moving into construction, working for Carly’s father. Carly has lived in Poplar Bluff since she was a young girl, her family moving from a Chicago suburb when she was 2. In 2007, the single mom went out with friends to a bar. She met Alex. A month or so later they were dating. They were married on May 14, 2010. Alex first tried to cross into the U.S. in 2000 when he was 19. He was caught by Border Patrol agents and issued an order of removal. Four years later, he tried again, this time successfully. He remained under the radar of immigration officials until 2015. That’s when Alex accompanied his sister to an immigration checkin appointment at an ICE office in Kansas City. After questioning him, investigators linked Garcia to the 2000 deportation order, which was still in effect. Alex was detained for a few weeks be-
‘THE NEW NORMAL’
Alex Garcia keeps a family photo with his wife, Carly, and five children in his makeshift quarters in a Maplewood church where he has taken sanctuary. Garcia is reportedly one of 36 immigrants in the U.S. living in a place of worship.
fore a lawyer with the Migrant and Immigrant Community Action Project, or MICA, successfully applied for a stay of removal, good for one year. A second stay was offered the following year. But last summer, the extension to stay in the country was denied. He was told to report Sept. 21 at an ICE office to be deported. With Alex’s legal options exhausted, immigrant rights groups led by St. Louis Inter-Faith Committee on Latin America talked with the Garcias about Alex seeking sanctuary. It was something with which they were unfamiliar. Sara John, with IFCLA, explained to the couple that moving Alex into a house of worship would keep him from being sent back to Honduras. “I talked to Carly and told her there is a space where laws fall short and values pick up the slack,” John said. “Carly was in tears. She said: ‘I can’t lose him. I’ll do whatever it takes.’” Carly and Alex use the WhatsApp instant messaging service to video chat, allowing Alex to see the kids grow up in the home he can no longer live in. Carly works full time in the human resources department of a health care company but without Alex’s income, paying the bills is tough, she said. She has turned to public assistance, including food stamps. Carly’s mother takes care of the kids when they are not in school and her father offers financial and emotional support. When Carly feels like she is going to fall apart, she calls Alex. “Alex is my world. He is definitely my best friend. He made me a better person and realize that everyone deserves a second change, deserves kindness,” Carly said. Alex bides his time doing odd jobs such as painting classrooms and caulking windows. “It feels so safe and good here,” Alex said. “I’m waiting for hope from here.” He is confined to the church and has been instructed not to answer the door. There is always someone in the church in the event law enforcement comes. “I’m not going to lie. I’m terrified,” Carly said. “I’m afraid they will take Alex away and he will be gone for many years and not see his children grow up.” In 2011, ICE enacted a policy designat-
ing “sensitive locations” where officials would not likely enforce immigration laws. The locations include churches, schools and hospitals. But the agency makes it clear no place is a complete haven. “Pursuant to ICE policy, enforcement actions are not to occur at or be focused on sensitive locations such as schools, places of worship unless: exigent circumstances exist; other law enforcement actions have led officers to a sensitive location; or prior approval is obtained from a designated supervisory official,” according to the agency’s website. Those who help undocumented immigrants find refuge say part of the process is making it clear to ICE that a person has sought sanctuary. “We file documents with ICE, put them on notice that this is where he lives,” John said. “We’re not harboring, hiding anyone,” said Turner, the pastor. “He is being protected by the church.” Alex is one of 36 immigrants living in a place of worship in the U.S., according to a report issued last week by Church World Service, an international agency working with refugees and immigrants. The places of worship, which include churches, synagogues and mosques, are in 26 cities. Christ Church in Maplewood is the only one serving as a sanctuary in Missouri. However, more than 1,100 places of worship are now listed by Church World Service as willing participants in the sanctuary movement. Turner said the community has been overwhelmingly supportive, with donations of food and money. Maplewood Mayor Barry Greenberg stopped by the church recently with an extra meal from a lunch held at his architecture firm. He was introduced to Alex. “The intent was to let him know the city is not going to take it upon itself to seek out immigrants and hand them over to ICE,” Greenberg said. He supports the effort of the church. “They are trying to do the right thing and I think the church has been an outstanding member of the community. They are just trying to practice their beliefs.” Maplewood Police Chief Stephen Kruse said no one has complained about an undocumented immigrant taking refuge in
“Silencing the Monsters” was the title of Turner’s sermon two Sundays ago. “Monsters cannot be addressed if we don’t bring them out into the light of day,” Turner said. “We can’t deal with hidden monsters.” “Let’s take a look at that ugliness,” she continued. “That’s where the solution will be found. We’ve been way too polite with our monsters. We can tell them we are ready for something to change because living with them just doesn’t work anymore.” Her remarks were rooted in Scripture. Driving out the evil spirits that haunt us. Cripple us. Keep us down. But Alex and Carly saw their fight in Turner’s words. “Her sermons help every time. There is always a connection, whether it’s on purpose. There is always some kind of connection because of what is happening right now.” Turner said Alex does not like to be idle, always asking for ways to help around the church. He often starts projects without asking, including cleaning out a deep fryer. “We don’t in any way want to exploit his talents but he has been a tremendous blessing,” Turner said. “What he has given us goes well beyond paint jobs and repair work.” The congregation is seeing a national issue play out before them, learning firsthand the toll it takes on a young family, she said. Early on, the 110-member church was concerned about how long it would be hosting Alex. “Not in limits to hospitality but how much it will require of us,” Turner said. “Now, that same question is meant in a different way. Every bit of it is out of concern for the family. How long do they have to do this?” That is the unknown. “Alex is a really good man and does not deserve the injustice that he is receiving from our government, regardless if he entered illegally or not,” Carly said. “He has been a good asset to our community, a loving father and husband.” Social justice advocates are concerned that Trump’s hard-line stance on immigration including ending protections of “Dreamers” — those who came into the U.S. illegally as children — and his push to build a wall along the Mexico border puts the sanctuary movement in jeopardy. “To date, the President has signed seven executive orders related to immigration and has terminated and limited protections that have been granted to undocumented immigrants under previous administrations,” Church World Service said in its “Sanctuary in the Age of Trump” report, released last month. “As the U.S. struggles with an uncertain political pathway under the leadership of a president whose platform is grounded in an anti-immigrant agenda, sanctuary is needed more than ever.” An unclear future stymies optimism. But the Garcias said they have to push on. It’s their only option. “This is the new normal, for now,” Carly said. “We’re hoping policies are going to change. I’m not going to give up until they do.” Doug Moore • 314-340-8125 @dougwmoore on Twitter dmoore@post-dispatch.com
MERRY CHRISTMAS S E RV I N G T H E P U B L I C S I N C E 1 878 • W I N N E R O F 1 8 P U L I TZ E R P R I Z E S
Tuesday • 12.25.2018 • $2.00
MARKETS PLUNGE AGAIN ‘FULL-FRONTAL ASSAULT’
BY ALEX VEIGA Associated Press
MIXED SIGNALS, TRUMP’S TWEETS SPOOK INVESTORS ON CHRISTMAS EVE
ASSOCIATED PRESS
President Donald Trump is displayed on a computer at the New York Stock Exchange on Monday.
President Donald Trump’s attacks on the Federal Reserve spooked the stock market on Christmas Eve, and efforts by his Treasury secretary to calm investors’ fears only seemed to make matters worse, contributing to another day of heavy losses on Wall Street. The major stock indexes fell more than 2 percent Monday, nudging the market closer to its
Church comes close to home
worst year since 2008. Stocks are also on track for their worst December since 1931, during the depths of the Great Depression. The market has been roiled for most of the month over concerns about a slowing global economy, the escalating trade dispute with China and another interest rate increase by the Federal Reserve. The past two trading days, however, have been dominated by something else: major losses See STOCKS • Page A9
Lincoln museum debt not so easily erased
Maplewood congregation continues to provide sanctuary, support for Honduran man
Some items may be sold with scant ties to president BY JOHN O’CONNOR Associated Press
church, Garcia’s length of time here remains an unknown, but the commitment by the church has not wavered. A team of volunteers was put together so that someone would be at the church around the clock in the event authorities came knocking. The group makes sure Garcia has
SPRINGFIELD, ILL. • The acquisition of 1,500 documents and artifacts for the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum a decade ago firmly established Illinois as a leading repository of all things Lincoln, the prairie lawyer who led the U.S. through the Civil War. So forgive the handwringing over the possibility that some of it might have to be sold. The Lincoln museum’s fundraising foundation, which borrowed $23 million in 2007 to buy the trove from private collector Louise Taper, still owes $9.2 million on a note due in October 2019. Donations have slowed and state officials are reluctant to chip in. An Associated Press review of the collection shows large parts that could be considered expendable. Does a collection of Lincolniana need five dozen playbills, letters and lithographs belonging to the father of Lincoln’s assassin, who died eight years before Lincoln became president? Does it need an 1874 invitation to the wedding of the daughter of President Ulysses
See SANCTUARY • Page A6
See LINCOLN • Page A4
LAURIE SKRIVAN • lskrivan@post-dispatch.com
More than 80 people gather outside Christ Church in Maplewood to pray Friday before the start of a Posada in Solidarity with Immigrants. The church’s interest in immigration reform has intensified since it began offering sanctuary to a Honduran immigrant in September 2017. BY DOUG MOORE St. Louis Post-Dispatch
MAPLEWOOD • In the library of this little church, a half dozen women were gathered on a weekday morning, singing “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” in Spanish. They focused more on the pronunciation of the words than
their vocal prowess, laughing as they made their way through the holiday classic. The Spanish class is a new addition at Christ Church United Church of Christ, born of the congregation’s decision to house Alex Garcia, a Honduran man who was facing deportation for being in the U.S. illegally. In the fall of 2017, when the
church council decided to become a place of sanctuary, the members did not know exactly what that would look like. Only that they needed to be ready when someone sought safe harbor. A road map was unclear. The fallout uncertain. Well into his second year of living in the basement of the
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FROM A1
M 1 • Tuesday • 12.25.2018
PHOTOS BY LAURIE SKRIVAN • lskrivan@post-dispatch.com
AriannaLee, 4, soaks up the final minutes of a family visit this month by snuggling with her dad, Alex Garcia, while watching cartoons. Her brothers Caleb (left), 12, and Maddux, 11, were also at Christ Church in Maplewood for the weekend before returning home to Poplar Bluff, Mo. Garcia, an immigrant from Honduras, is living at the church.
Scripture refers to the church as a refuge SANCTUARY • FROM A1
food and other necessities. And they worry alongside Garcia about the welfare of his wife and their five children, who live in Poplar Bluff, Mo., 2½ hours away. “We don’t stop often to think about the particulars. He just lives here,” said Pastor Rebecca Turner. “Alex is part of our family.” The decision to become what is the state’s only place of worship housing someone in sanctuary was initially met with opposition. A handful of longtime members left, seeing the move as too political and out of bounds for the church. But as word spread about Christ Church and Garcia, strangers stepped forward to help, becoming a network of vecinos (neighbors, in Spanish). Turner began seeing new faces when she looked out in the pews on Sunday mornings. Since Garcia moved in, 22 people have joined the church, a notable jump for a congregation that was hovering around 100 members. “I’m not promoting sanctuary as an evangelism strategy,” Turner said. “But it’s proof to me that people want a church that is doing justice in the world, that they want more from a church than one that makes them feel good on Sunday morning. They want to actually be doing something to make the world a better place. “It’s really encouraging.”
Roger Barnes (right) reads a book in February as Alex Garcia mops the floor at Christ Church in Maplewood. “We are all here to help Alex. We spend a lot of time here in the remote chance ICE shows up; we have a protocol to follow,” said Barnes, who is in the network of “vecinos” (Spanish for neighbors ) who provide round-the-clock protection for Garcia.
“... it’s proof to me that people want a church that is doing justice in the world, that want more from a church than one that makes them feel good on Sunday morning.” PASTOR REBECCA TURNER
THE WORD VS. THE LAW Ron Gaus and his wife, Sandy, have been members of Christ Church since 1976. They were starting a family and wanted to raise their children in church, one with a message of inclusion. It was a congregation familiar to Gaus. His grandfather was confirmed at Christ Church in 1894. As the sanctuary movement began in earnest following the election of Donald Trump, who campaigned on stronger immigration policies including building a wall between the U.S. and Mexico, the church council wondered what it could do. “This was the most immediate need, and a way to make a difference,” Gaus said of the church becoming a sanctuary, which included notifying U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement when Garcia moved in. Gaus, as the church’s building and grounds coordinator, enlisted the help of carpenter friends, including one who was not in favor of what the church was doing. “It doesn’t matter what I think. You are asking as
The Rev. Becky Turner sits with children dressed for a Nativity play this month at Christ Church in Maplewood. “We made a commitment to this family, and we will take care of them. Our goal has always been to stop the deportation of Alex Garcia and get him back home to Poplar Bluff with his wife and children,” she said.
Fran Glass marches Friday in the Posada in Solidarity with Immigrants at Christ Church in Maplewood. “I will officially join the church on Jan. 6. I wanted to be a part of the social justice they are doing here,” she said.
a friend and that’s all that matters,” the friend told Gaus. An unused portion of the church basement was quickly turned into an apartment for Garcia, who supported his family as a construction worker be-
fore seeking sanctuary. He uses his skills to help with maintenance and repair projects at the church. Christ Church leaders discussed the risk of wading into an issue so divisive, but ultimately
decided humanity outweighed any criticism. They turned to Scripture referring to the church as a refuge. “We lost a few long-time members with great, understandable convictions,”
Gaus said. “I’d rather they leave if we’re doing something that interferes with their connection with God and find another place. Don’t stay where you are distracted.” Jan Roddy has been a Christ Church member for 25 years. She and her partner joined the church because it was open to same-sex couples when acceptance was hard to find. But even in a liberal congregation, some older members have struggled with sanctuary, the word of God butting up against the law of the land. “Those two things came into contradiction for some people,” Roddy said. For others, some laws are unjust and must be highlighted. “Fundamentally, if the church couldn’t do this, then what the hell is the church?” she said. Had Christ Church gone a different direction, “personally, I don’t think I could have stayed.” In 2011, ICE designated “sensitive locations” where immigration laws would not likely be enforced. They include churches, schools and hospitals. But the agency also made it clear no place is a
complete haven. Christ Church members have cautioned Garcia against answering the door and going outside. For Christ Church, the sanctuary movement has come with some growing pains, including overwhelming Garcia with the best of intentions. “There were times when we were doing something like gathering gifts for the children, or having a big presence all the time in the church, and he would be saying, ‘This is too much,’” said Roddy, who recently retired as a professor and administrator at Southern Illinois University Carbondale. For the volunteers, many of them women of middle age or older, their maternal instincts kicked in, seeing Garcia as a young man who needed to be taken care of, Roddy said. But the church ladies slowly realized that should happen on Garcia’s terms. “It took us a while to really start to listen,” Roddy said. “It’s learning how to be in a relationship with anybody. To trust that he would tell us what he needs, and we don’t have to ask.” After divorce, turning 50 and retiring in 2015 from her job as a Spanish teacher at Parkway South High School, Lisa Kientzel was looking for what’s next. Through volunteering at Casa de Salud, where she helped Hispanic patients understand the health care system, Kientzel heard about St. Louis Inter-Faith Committee on Latin America, the group that connected Garcia with Christ Church. She was introduced to Roddy, organizer of the vecino group. Pastor Turner invited her to a Sunday service. “It didn’t take long for me to see where God was leading me,” said Kientzel, a Catholic whose ex-husband is music director for a Presbyterian church. Now a member of Christ Church, she teaches the weekly Spanish classes, helping members better communicate with Garcia, a resident of the church since September 2017.
‘AS LONG AS IT TAKES’ Two Sundays ago, Garcia sat next to his wife, Carly. They watched as their children joined others from the Sunday School class to create a Nativity scene. They filed into the sanctuary dressed as wise men, shepherds and angels. Mary, Joseph and baby Jesus. Carly, like parents throughout the sanctuary, captured the moment with cellphone photos. SANCTUARY • Page A7
12.25.2018 • Tuesday • M 1 ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH • A7 FROM A1 SANCTUARY • FROM A6
On Friday night, the church held its version of Las Posadas, a religious festival celebrated in Mexico during Advent. It commemorates the journey of Mary and Joseph from Nazareth to Bethlehem. Unable to find a room at an inn, they seek shelter in a stable, where Jesus was born. Christ Church updated the festival to highlight the plight of Central American migrants, who have traveled thousands of miles from Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador to seek refuge in the U.S. Marchers along a nearly one-mile route carried candles and sang social justice songs. As they arrived at the church, they were met with open doors, where food, drinks and piñatas awaited. Turner said it was yet another way for the congregation to stand with immigrants like Garcia. Sunday services include hymns sung and Scriptures read in Spanish and English. The commitment by Christ Church is not lost on the Garcias, who became members of the church a few months ago. “For me, it’s a big deal. I wasn’t raised in a church,” Carly said. But the acceptance has been overwhelming, a support system she leans on more and more. “They really are who they say they are. They are here for what is right,” she said. “They take care of my husband when I’m not here.” Carly and the children continue to live in Poplar Bluff, where she was raised and where she met Alex in 2007. They married three years later. They are a blended family. Alex had two children when he met Carly; she had one. Together, they had two more. Like Carly, all were born in the U.S. About once a week, Carly and the children make the trip to Maplewood. Alex first tried to cross into the U.S. in 2000, when he was 19, but was stopped by Border Patrol agents. Four years later, he successfully made it across the border, eventually landing in Poplar Bluff. He remained under the radar of immigration officials until 2015, when he accompanied his sister to an immigration check-in appointment at an ICE office in Kansas City. There, he was linked to the deportation order from 15 years earlier, still in effect. An attorney helped him successfully apply for a stay of removal, good for one year. A second stay was granted the following year. But in the summer of 2017, the third request for a stay was denied. He was told to report to an ICE office to face deportation. “Thanks to the church, I’m still seeing my family,” Alex said. Had he not sought sanctuary, he would have been sent to Honduras, 1,500 miles from his family. Never would he consider leaving his family behind or taking them to a country they’ve never known. “There is no life for my kids in Honduras,” he said of the children, ages 4 to 13. Carly continues to work full time for a health care company, but without Alex’s income, she and the children have moved in with her parents. She is helping renovate a house next door that a relative recently moved out of. Carly wants it ready for when Alex comes home. “Our home is in Poplar Bluff,” she said. Moving the family to St. Louis would be giving in. The younger children think their Dad is away for work. But the older ones know that’s not the case. Still, Carly keeps the details of Alex’s plight as positive as possible. “I don’t believe in teaching them that the government is trying to separate our family,” she said. “Our country is not bad. Policies just need to be replaced.” But in the current political climate, change does not seem imminent. And as the separation lingers, it’s taking its toll on the children, Carly said. One is becoming withdrawn. Another is failing seventh grade. At the church service
earlier this month, where the children helped tell the birth of Jesus, Pastor Turner said those who believe must turn to faith when the way forward is not clear. She talked about church leaders sitting in meetings over the past 15 months in which Alex has lived at the church. “We talk about how we wish someone would give us a manual on how we get Alex home,” said Turner, who is leading one of about two dozen places of worship around the country housing an immigrant. “With every obstacle, we want to throw up our hands and say: ‘What now?’ The answer is the same every time. Keep going. Tear down the next
obstacle. Make the path yourself.” But where that path finally leads, no one can say. Garcia’s appeals have been denied. Immigration reform is at an impasse in Washington. “Ultimately, we don’t know how this ends,” said Roddy, the longtime church member. “Our hope is he goes home with his family tomorrow, and we have enough political and human will to make fundamentally right our immigration rights. That is what we hope.” Until then, “we are going to stand by this family as long as it takes.” Doug Moore • 314-340-8125 @dougwmoore on Twitter dmoore@post-dispatch.com
“I hate saying goodbye. Sometimes I just sit in the car, and I don’t want to drive away,” says Carly Garcia after a visit to her husband this month in Maplewood.
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