With Deportation Stay, Ingrid Encalada LaTorre Gets a Taste of Freedom

Life has been very different for Ingrid Encalada LaTorre since she received word on November 1 that she'd been granted a one-year deportation stay by Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

"It’s a big change, a huge change," says Encalada LaTorre, a 38-year-old Peruvian national who for four years has been living in sanctuary in the Unitarian Universalist Church of Boulder in order to avoid deportation by ICE.

In the past, Encalada LaTorre felt nervous just playing with her children on the church playground or parking lot. Now, the mother of three has actual freedom of movement. "I'm able to go out, pick up the kids, go to their school, go to the grocery store," says Encalada LaTorre, speaking in Spanish through an interpreter. "Yeah, it’s a big step forward towards my freedom. And it’s quite the difference."

But old fears haunt her. "I feel free, yes, but it’s kind of just a habit of mine to look over my shoulder now," she adds. "I live with that trauma still. I find myself very often when I drive looking in the rearview mirror."

Encalada LaTorre came to the U.S. illegally over two decades ago. A few years later, she pleaded guilty to a felony charge for possessing a Social Security card she'd bought on the black market in the early 2000s that turned out to belong to a real person.

In December 2019, Governor Jared Polis pardoned Encalada LaTorre for that felony conviction, which removed a major hurdle from her path toward gaining legal residency in the U.S.

But Donald Trump was still president, and the Colorado pardon didn't protect Encalada LaTorre from ICE. So she and her children stayed in the church, which became particularly lonely during the pandemic, when services shut down and volunteers stopped coming.

"It’s definitely changed. There’s no more activities anymore," Encalada LaTorre says.

Meanwhile, assorted lawmakers — including U.S. Representative Joe Neguse, who represents Boulder, and New York Congresswoman Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez — continued lobbying the feds on her behalf. And finally last fall, ICE granted a one-year stay for Encalada LaTorre, as well as at least four other undocumented immigrants living in sanctuary in Colorado.

Encalada LaTorre is still staying in the church while she looks for a more permanent place. "I see myself living in Boulder, especially because of my kids. The education system in Boulder is amazing and I've also built a family with the community of Boulder," Encalada LaTorre says. Since her stay was announced, she and her kids — boys aged thirteen and six, and a two-year-old daughter — have been able to go hiking with other families on the weekends.

And the children are ready to go on vacation....someday.  "They’re all super-excited. They’re waiting for a time when they can go on vacation, because I always promised them that when we were able to leave the church, that we'd go on vacation," Encalada LaTorre says. Her oldest son, Bryant, has always dreamed about visiting Disney World in Florida. The younger kids, Anibal and Elizabeth, want to visit the beach.

"The thought of traveling makes me a little uncomfortable, but I know with my stay, I'm able to travel," Encalada LaTorre notes.

Besides thinking about a vacation, she's also making educational and professional plans. She wants to get her GED and continue studying English. And she hopes to open a small shop that will sell Peruvian and Mexican merchandise.

But first, she needs her immigration case to come to closure, since the deportation stay only lasts a year.

"It’s like a ticking time bomb when it comes to my case because it’s a lot of pressure on that end," Encalada LaTorre concludes. "I want to move forward with my case and all the legal aspects,"