For religious leaders and their flocks, deportation threats test faith – Tampa Bay Times

WIMAUMA — Ashley Ambrocio knows exactly how long her father, an evangelical pastor at a small church in Wimauma, has been behind bars: 47 days. She has not stopped counting.
From the mobile home where she lives with her four brothers and her mother, they are separated by more than 110 miles.
They had never been apart from him for so long. Never before had they cried so much over his absence.
“My father is a man of God and of family,” she said. “He loves to smile, talk to people, and help his community.”
Maurilio Ambrocio’s case illustrates how religious workers are now facing deportation threats under the same policies affecting the immigrant faithful they serve.
Ambrocio, 42, was arrested on April 17 after a regularly scheduled check-in at the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement office in Tampa, an appointment he had been attending for more than a decade without any issues. Although he has a stay of removal in place, which generally delays deportation, his sudden detention has shaken his family and his church, which National Public Radio first reported. He was sent to the Glades County Detention Center in Central Florida.
His family is awaiting the possibility of a hearing to reevaluate the case and prevent deportation.
Ambrocio is the leader of Iglesia de Santidad Vida Nueva, a rural congregation that gathers every weekend with about 50 Hispanic worshippers and their families. Most of them are from Mexico and Central America.
Ambrocio came to the United States more than 20 years ago, crossing the southern border and fleeing violence in Guatemala. He started his own handyman business, doing restoration work and other repairs.
According to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Ambrocio was removed from the country in 2006 and later returned without official authorization. He was convicted of driving without a license in 2012 and received a final removal order from an immigration judge in January 2013.
But Ambrocio’s family says the same judge later allowed him to remain in the United States under supervision. They now believe the government is trying to reactivate that removal order to justify his detention.
“My father is a very hard-working man,” his daughter said. “It is not fair that he is being detained.”
Tricia McLaughlin, a spokesperson at the Department of Homeland Security, said the administration is taking a tough stance on immigration enforcement, but is offering $1,000 and travel assistance for those who voluntarily leave the country.
“President Trump and Secretary (Kristi) Noem’s message to illegal aliens is clear: If you’re in the country illegally, leave now or face the consequences,” McLaughlin said.
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There are no official statistics showing the impact of immigration enforcement policies on religious leaders, who can be protected under certain immigration categories. Those include the R-1 visa, granted to foreign-born religious workers for up to five years; and the EB-4 visa, a special immigrant status that offers a path to permanent residency through religious organizations.
However, there are signs that churches and their religious workers are feeling the pressure.
Some have chosen to offer virtual services to navigate the landscape transformed by the policies of President Donald Trump across the nation, and Gov. Ron DeSantis in Florida. Others have decided to keep a lower profile amid the restrictions, penalties and deportations. Many more live in constant worry that one detention could disrupt their entire ministry and community.
The situation is alarming and goes against the administration’s promise that only criminals will be targeted, said Gabriel Salguero, president of the National Latino Evangelical Coalition and pastor of The Gathering Place in Orlando.
A month ago, the Coalition sent a letter to Trump saying it supported protecting the border, but also expressed concern about recent plans to end protections for hundreds of thousands of immigrants allowed to live and work in the United States, such as Ambrocio.
Salguero said authorities are arresting people with no criminal record and immigrants who are in the middle of legal processes that are supposed to protect them.
The crackdown has created confusion among faith leaders and religious workers. Recently, leaders from a Pentecostal denomination in South Florida contacted Salguero about an event where he was scheduled to speak. Salguero said they moved the event online because some pastors were afraid to travel between states amid increased immigration enforcement.
“It was supposed to be a conference with churches from several states,” Salguero said. “They moved it online because people were afraid of being arrested while driving from one state to another.”
It’s taken an emotional and spiritual toll on churches and the broader community, said Nanci Palacios, deputy director of Faith in Florida, a nonpartisan network that works with churches across the state.
Palacios said many churches and their leaders are more careful about how they promote events and who they allow to speak to their congregation.
“They are being more protective because they want to make sure their members are not put at risk,” she said.
Palacios said Faith in Florida removed its list of affiliated churches from social media at the churches’ request. Some congregations feared that having their names and addresses publicly available could put their members in danger.
“If there is a raid, it could hurt many families,” she said.
More than 10 million Christian immigrants in the United States are vulnerable to deportation, according to a recent report by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, the National Association of Evangelicals, World Relief, and the Center for the Study of Global Christianity.
The study concluded that the administration of laws should be done in ways that balance justice, compassion, redemption and proportionality.
“Deportation is only one of several ways in which this principle can be upheld,” the study read.
The late Pope Francis warned that mass deportations strip people of dignity and “will end badly” In a letter to U.S. bishops, he pushed back on Vice President JD Vance’s defense of the administration’s policies. Pope Leo XIV, who succeeded Francis, also criticized Vance on social media prior to being elected pope.
For families like the Ambrocios, immigration policies are not just news stories. They can be personal and painful.
“My father was the light of this home, the one who took us out as a family, the one who made us laugh,” said Ambrocio’s daughter.
She has become the pillar of the family. She works more than 80 hours a week between her father’s handyman business and a hostess job at a Chinese restaurant in Brandon. She tries to stay strong for her brothers, 16 and 12, but the pressure is heavy.
The family speaks to Ambrocio by phone every day. He tells them to stay strong and trust in God. Sometimes, he just listens as the children talk about their day, pets and hobbies.
“Last week he told us he was preaching in jail to other immigrant detainees,” said Ambrocio’s daughter.
Roger Ruiz, an evangelical pastor in Stuart and a close friend of Ambrocio, said he’s known in the community for helping those most in need.
“He’s a man who keeps his word,” Ruiz said. He accompanied Ambrocio to his immigration appointment when he was detained.
“He could have avoided it, but he chose to show up,” said Ruiz, 50. “He tried to do the right thing. He hoped the government would see that in him.”
At Iglesia de Santidad Vida Nueva, the congregation has also felt the loss of its spiritual leader. Before his detention, the community was preparing a major event to celebrate the church’s seventh anniversary with a guest pastor from Arcadia, live music, food and activities for the children.
Now, they’ve set other priorities, such as a campaign on Change.org to collect signatures in solidarity with Ambrocio. So far, it has gathered 2,128 signatures.
“We just want him home,” Ambrocio’s daughter said. ”That’s all we pray for.”
Juan Carlos Chavez is the immigration reporter, covering immigration, diverse communities and the intersection with politics. He can be reached at jchavez@tampabay.com.
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