Rev. Jose Landaverde of the Life, and Hope and St. Peter the Apostle Mission Church offers drunken illegal beaner wife beater Lorenzo Solorzano sanctuary in his DuPage County church due to facing deportation

Defying federal immigration officials, the pastor of a West Chicago church said Thursday he is offering refuge to a Northwest suburban man facing deportation who has lived for three decades in the United States as an undocumented resident.

At a news conference flanked by supporters, the Rev. Jose Landaverde said he has offered religious sanctuary to Lorenzo Solorzano Morales at Faith, Life, and Hope and St. Peter the Apostle Mission. The Elgin man, his wife and 7-year-old daughter will live there.

Solorzano faces deportation for a domestic battery arrest in November 2011 in South Elgin. He pleaded guilty months later to the misdemeanor offense, in which he was accused of pulling a woman's hair during an argument, according to Kane County court and police records.

Landaverde urged lawmakers to intervene. He said Solorzano, 54, has lived in the United States for 30 years and is a longtime landscaper in DuPage and Kane suburbs. He has three children, including a 7-year-old girl and two adult daughters from a previous marriage, and his wife is battling cancer, Landaverde said.

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