By Danae King, The Columbus Dispatch
COLUMBUS – Edith Espinal is asking the federal government once again to put off deportation as she seeks a legal way to stay in the country.
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Espinal, 40, and originally from Mexico, has been in sanctuary at Columbus Mennonite Church since Oct. 2. She entered the church, a “sensitive place” that Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials have said they probably wouldn’t enter, after being ordered deported on Sept. 25.
She was forced to buy a plane ticket to Mexico that day, her most-recent ICE check-in. Her flight was scheduled to leave at 8 a.m. Tuesday; Espinal considered boarding it but stayed at the church.
Espinal went into sanctuary thinking she had exhausted all legal options, but after hiring new attorneys on Oct. 2, she has decided to pursue another way to stay.
Lizbeth Mateo, her new attorney who is based in Los Angeles, will soon file a second request for a stay of removal for Espinal. The request will be based on a legal avenue that Espinal recently realized through her son Isidro, a U.S. citizen who turned 21 a few weeks ago and now can petition for his mother to be granted legal residency.
Isidro will file the paperwork with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, and a court decides on the petition, said advocate Mohammad Abdollahi with dreamactivist.org.