To assist his return to Amherst, more than two dozen people β local religious leaders, politicians, activists and concerned supporters β turned up at the hospital on Thursday to form a caravan of support for Perez, who rode in a car with the Rev. Peter Ives of Northampton. That happiness was the culmination of days of worry after Perez made the decision to leave sanctuary for life-saving treatment. Perez said that the battery on an electronic monitoring bracelet he has to wear was getting low, and that he received a call from immigration agents after leaving the church.
Cooley Dickinson Hospital does not comment on individual patients because of privacy laws. But in a statement, a hospital spokeswoman said Cooley Dickinson welcomes and treats all patients, regardless of their immigration status. They then all rushed to their respective cars, trying their best to keep together as a caravan through traffic lights and traffic jams as Perez traveled down Route 9 to the church.
She said the effort required the participation of dozens of people β from hospital staff to local political figures β just to make sure Perez could receive quality health care. As a visa-holding student from Rwanda, Murenzi said he understands and sympathizes with the perils of being undocumented. But although Perez got back safely, he still faces indefinite confinement in the church in order to avoid separation from his wife and four children, who live in Springfield.
