A Manhattan church and several city leaders are standing by an undocumented immigrant facing deportation.
Amanda Morales is seeking refuge at the Holyrood Church in Washington Heights.
Morales moved from Guatemala to the United States in 2004 and is the mother of three children — all U.S. citizens.
She was supposed to meet with Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials yesterday.
But she chose to go to the church for help instead, as ICE told her she was going to be deported.
Father Luis Barrios, the priest of the church, says Morales came here for her and her children's safety.
"She is going through a trauma. This is a trauma. OK, you get out of your physical space, you come into another space here. You bring your children, you have no idea if ICE is going to get here or when they're going to do it or what is going to be the outcome of the case."
Dozens of people and elected officials delivered a request for a stay on Morales' deportation order to ICE's office in Manhattan.