(CNN) For 843 days, Oneita and Clive Thompson took sanctuary in two Philadelphia churches to escape Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Daily life was constrained within the humble walls of the First United Methodist Church of Germantown, and later the Tabernacle United Church downtown. They ate, bathed, and slept cloistered inside the churches, bereft of the ability to walk beyond the grounds for fear of deportation. "At first I would not even go on the porch, I was so fearful," Oneita, 48, told CNN. After the family's repeated attempts to block the deportation order, the federal government dropped the order in mid-December.

Source: CNN December 22, 2020 22:18 UTC