An Easton minister who was born in Honduras and has lived in the United States for nearly 25 years was detained Monday morning by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
Pastor Daniel Fuentes Espinal, who has served as the minister of Iglesia del Nazareno Jesús Te Ama church since 2015, was arrested early on July 21 after departing Lowe’s after picking up some construction materials, his daughter told local media. An ICE vehicle followed him to the nearby McDonald’s, and later arrested him on Route 322 after he ate his breakfast.
According to published reports, he was first taken to Salisbury and then transferred to the Baltimore ICE detention center, where he awaits further transfer. The daughter, Clarissa Fuentes Diaz, said Espinal is a father of three with a large extended family, and has no criminal record. Espinal’s family has tried to obtain citizenship legally for years, but due to backlogs and expenses, Espinal remained undocumented, Diaz told local media.
Matthew R. Peters, executive director of the Chesapeake Multicultural Resource Center, which provides outreach services to immigrants, said such detentions are not new but appear to be ramping up. The detention of a prominent member of his community has raised the profile of the issue and may point to further detentions in the future.
“This is nothing new for this community,” Peters said. “In this case, people on the outside are feeling injustice. But everyone who is taken causes an impact on their family and friends.”
Since the start of the second Trump administration in January, immigration arrests have doubled in Maryland, according to the Deportation Data Project, an academic research-based initiative to track deportations. More than 600 immigrants with no criminal record have been arrested during that timespan.
Community members have come out in vigorous support for Espinal, with over 10 character letters written on his behalf, including Len Foxwell, a retired state official and communications strategist. Espinal spoke at the July funeral of Foxwell’s son Darren, who died in an auto accident earlier this summer and was a friend of Espinal’s son Daniel.
“If there is anyone who exemplifies the teachings of Christ and the true values of the Christian faith, it is Pastor Espinal,” Foxwell wrote on his Facebook page. “This [arrest] isn’t about securing the southern border, nor is it about making our communities safe. This is a human tragedy that has torn apart a hard-working family led by one who has given so much to others.
Peters said anyone who may be vulnerable to ICE detention should have a plan in place and work to understand the process through trusted resources with accurate information, noting the danger of scammers preying on immigrants worried about potential arrest.
10 Responses
I am with Clay on this one. Find a way to keep the ‘good guys’ and get rid of the bad guys.
Please provide your definition of bad guy. Crossing a border without authorization? Over staying a Visa? Driving with an expired license? Shooting a burglar? Posting a threatening comment? Interfering with an ICE kidnapping? Invading the Capitol building? Encouraging an attack on the Capitol?
Do you have any idea what you’re talking about?
I would think a pastor at a church would be considered a “good guy”
well this seems like a total miscarriage of justice… I just don’t know what else to say.
In the interests of justice and humanity, Pastor Espinal must be immediately released and returned to his home and family with apologies for the US Governments’ unjustifiable, misguided, cruel and racist action. Anyone who believes or suggests otherwise deserves to be arrested, shackled and deported to a notorious prison in a foreign authoritarian nation now.
The recently passed “big beautiful bill” funds an additional 10,000 ICE agents over the next several years. This is just the beginning and will only get worse as good, hardworking, law abiding people are rounded up and imprisoned- for what purpose? Because 25 years ago they crossed a border seeking opportunity? Deport violent criminals who have entered illegally and strengthen the border but don’t deport our workers, our pastors and our heads of households who will leave innocent children behind without a father. Where is our humanity?
This is just a small part of the travesty of death and destruction coming out of this administration. People asking where is the humanity have been blind to the fact that the man has no humanity, no morals, and is doing exactly what he said they would do.
Anyone who voted for him is getting exactly what they voted for and should not be expressing surprise.
I’d like to hear what the Lord tells the pastor to say – I have no doubt he is loved by the community & his family – there has to be a solution & people on both sides of this issue need to be patient – the problem of accessing citizenship legally was obviously a mess long before this administration – with prayer & supplication may the solution be had.
I hold a prominent position in Honduras and if the Pastor is deported, I want to help. If anyone can open a door for me to contact the Pastor or his family, please reach out to me at dskerr20@gmail.com. Thank you . I am in prayer for the Pastor and his family
If only he wasn’t a criminal and had followed legal processes to enter the country. Sure every criminal alien is a god-fearing priest who loves his congregation and they love him in return but he’s still in the country illegally. Is there part of this that the commenters don’t understand?