It Took a Tucson Church and 10,000 Arizonans to Stop the Deportation of Rosa Robles Loreto

Elizabeth Stuart, Phoenix New Times, Nov. 18, 2015 - "When Tucson's paper of record, the Arizona Daily Star, published an editorial in January supporting Rosa, Cowan mailed a copy to ICE. When local churches collected 7,000 letters from community members pleading on Rosa's behalf, Cowan mailed copies to ICE. When activists collected 12,000 signatures for a petition for her relief, Cowan mailed a copy to ICE. "Please reconsider," she wrote. And so it went until, over the course of 15 months, Cowan had sent 25 letters. "We are like that dog that bites your foot and won't let go," Cowan said. "We never give up." Respite came without warning or fanfare. On November 3, Rosa and her supporters joined hands, as they did every night, and prayed that the government would lift the threat of deportation and allow her to return home to her family in Tucson. On November 4, Rosa, Cowan, and Harrington cried as they learned that, after 461 days living in sanctuary, she'd be able to do just that. Rosa stayed a week longer while Cowan worked out the kinks in what she stubbornly would describe only as "a confidential agreement" with the Department of Homeland Security. "[Rosa] will remain safely in the United States until Congress passes comprehensive immigration reform," Cowan said."

[Margo Cowan, Rosa’s attorney, has been fighting immigration battles for 40 years.]

Margo Cowan