As two members of the group that is supporting Rosa Sabido in Mancos during her time in sanctuary, we are struck by the unfortunate need of the Cortez Journal (June 30) to sensationalize a story rather than tell the heartwarming truth of Rosa’s journey.

Rosa is someone who has done everything by the book since she has been in this country, including spending up to $5000 per year for the last eight years in order to have legal status, which only included a “stay of deportation.”

She has been working for the Catholic church as a secretary for the last nine years, which was curiously omitted from the article. We are saddened by the need for journalists to paint such a negative picture of such a beautiful and loving woman who has been simply trying for the last 30 years to gain citizenship.

The language of this piece referring Rosa as a “fugitive” is the language of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, a government agency assigned the task of criminalizing people who are not from this country and thereby rationalizing their detention and deportation.

The immigration system is truly broken as they continue to detain and deport upstanding human beings who contribute to our society and instead portray them as criminals.

Joanie Trussel and Lyn Patrick

Mancos