Young people tell about their lives in sanctuary in front of the Philadelphia City Council.

It’s been nearly eight months since Carmela Apolonio Hernández moved with her four children into the Church of the Advocate in North Philadelphia, declaring sanctuary to avoid the deportation of her entire family to Mexico. Read in English .

On Thursday, her daughter Keyri spoke before the City Council , explaining her childhood to those present, since fleeing the drug-related violence and organized crime that killed two of her cousins ​​and her uncle.

“I’m someone who, at my age, has experienced what it’s like to live in sanctuary, as well as in a detention center, while seeking asylum. And it’s not easy,” the 13-year-old said in Spanish, sobbing and wiping her tears with the sleeve of her sweatshirt.

She remembered a girl she met at the detention center whose father and mother had been murdered; she also thought about how her own mother couldn’t sleep because officers searched her every few hours.

Now, when she sees what’s happening at the border, she’s reminded of what her family has been through since arriving in the United States in 2015. “If you can find a way to support them, please do so,” Keyri told council members, appearing at Philadelphia City Hall with her 9-year-old brother, Edwin .

June 22 was the last City Hall session before summer vacations.

Council members then passed a resolution requesting the Department of Homeland Security to reopen the family’s asylum case and urging Congress to provide support to the children’s mother, Carmela Apolonio Hernandez, who was ordered to leave the United States by December 15 after her asylum claim for the family was denied.

David Bennion, the attorney representing Apolonio Hernández, said the resolution supports his campaign efforts to obtain legal and secure immigration status.

“Even though the city of Philadelphia cannot provide direct support for Carmela’s case, they are showing solidarity with her and her family, and calling on other elected officials at the federal level to act,” Bennion said.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has requested the deportation of the entire family while their case remains pending in the U.S. Court of Appeals, Bennion said.

Hernandez , who did not participate in the City Council meeting to avoid prosecution by ICE, sent a statement in his absence, thanking Councilwoman Helen Gym for introducing the resolution and requesting support from Pennsylvania U.S. Senator Bob Casey Jr. and Governor Tom Wolf. In April of this year, Representative Bob Brady introduced a bill to protect undocumented families from deportation.

Reverend Renee McKenzie, the pastor who welcomed the family to the Church of the Defender last December, said her greatest concern is the children’s safe future . “We make their stay as comfortable as possible, but it’s embarrassing to see all that energy wasted inside the building.”