Western Louisiana Episcopalians advocate for release, wellbeing of New York resident in ICE custody

[Episcopal News Service] Members of the Diocese of Western Louisiana’s Allies for Immigrants ministry are working with the Diocese of New York to advocate for the release and wellbeing of a parishioner of St. Bartholomew’s Episcopal Church in White Plains, New York.

Elizabeth “Ketty” De Los Santos, a 59-year-old grandmother from Peru, went to a routine asylum hearing on July 31 at Federal Plaza in Midtown Manhattan. She was arrested by U.S. Immigration Customs and Enforcement agents after scheduling her next appointment and leaving the hearing, then was sent by bus to ICE’s Richwood Correctional Center in Monroe, Louisiana.

The Rev. Bette Kauffman, deacon at Grace Episcopal Church in Monroe, and Joy Owensby, missioner for the Diocese of Western Louisiana’s Formation and Community Engagement, confirmed with Episcopal News Service that, as of Aug. 13, De Los Santos is at Ochsner LSU Health-Monroe Medical Center in Monroe for unspecified in-patient treatment. She has several health issues but was sent to Louisiana without any of her medications.

“I have tried to make a pastoral visit to Ketty in the hospital, but the ICE agent supervising her was quite irate with me, calling my attempted visit ‘false pretenses,’” Kauffman told ENS. “To the best of my knowledge, lay people are having an easier time than clergy making friend visits in the hospital and in the detention facilities. The whole situation is truly frustrating and maddening.”

No one from either diocese has been able to reach De Los Santos over the last 10 days, though the Diocese of New York has secured two attorneys for her, one in New York and one in Louisiana. Kauffman, Owensby and the Rev. Esta Gardner, rector of St. Bartholomew’s, all told ENS that they think De Los Santos isn’t permitted to access a phone while hospitalized.

De Los Santos fled to the United States from Peru after her bakery business was extorted, and the extortioners threatened to kill her when she couldn’t pay them enough money, according to an Aug. 4 post on St. Bartholomew’s Facebook page. She has no relatives living in the United States, but her sister, who still lives in Peru, has been in touch with a Spanish-speaking parishioner of St. Bartholomew’s, according to Kauffman, Owensy and Gardner.

Asylum-seekers, like De Los Santos, and refugees leave their homes for a variety of reasons, including but not limited to war, violence and persecution over race, ethnicity, religion or sexual orientation. Seeking asylum in the United States is legal.

Although the terms migrants and asylum-seekers are often used interchangeably, not all migrants are asylum-seekers. The latter are people seeking protection from persecution or violence, but who haven’t yet been legally recognized as refugees.

As of Aug. 1, 56,759 migrants and asylum-seekers were in ICE custody, according to the latest available data compiled by NBC News.

Another Episcopalian in the Diocese of New York – an unnamed parishioner of the Church of St. Mary the Virgin in Midtown Manhattan – also was arrested and detained by ICE agents at Federal Plaza on Aug. 4 while going to a routine asylum hearing. Kauffman and Owensby have not been in touch with him, and no other information is available.

“There’s a limit to what we can do to help, but we’re doing everything possible,” Owensby said.

-Shireen Korkzan is a reporter and assistant editor for Episcopal News Service. She can be reached at skorkzan@episcopalchurch.org.