A Honduran pastor living in Maryland’s Eastern Shore who overstayed his visa more than two decades ago has returned home after he was arrested in late July by federal immigration authorities, saying he ministered to several souls who came to Christ during his detention.
In a video posted on social media by a family friend on Sunday, Pastor Daniel Fuentes Espinal of Iglesia del Nazareno Jesus Te Ama in Easton thanked supporters for their prayers and financial support amid three weeks of detention.
“I want to give thanks to the community for the support you have given me during this process,” the 54-year-old said. “Thank you for your prayers. I am really sure God listened to your prayers.”
His daughter, Clarissa Fuentes Diaz, also appeared in the video, thanking Maryland Gov. Wes Moore’s office and members of U.S. Congress for their advocacy on her father’s case.
“I am very happy to have my dad back home,” she said. “He is the pillar of our house. … My heart is full.”
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested Fuentes Espinal on July 21 while returning to a construction site, alleging that he entered the United States on a 6-month visa but “never left in 24 years.”
He was initially held in Salisbury and then transferred to Baltimore before he was moved to detention in Louisiana.
His supporters say that the pastor has no criminal record and is known throughout Easton for his charity, such as providing food, shelter, clothing and emergency funds to vulnerable residents throughout town.
His family said that he had no prior deportation orders. Over a dozen letters from community members were submitted in support of Fuentes Espinal. Dozens also lined Route 50 in Easton a week after his arrest to protest his detention. Donors gave over $51,000 through a GoFundMe campaign to support the pastor’s family.
In another video shared on social media on Sunday, the pastor said in Spanish that he shared the hope of Jesus with many others detained in Louisiana.
“The glory of the Lord was manifested in the place where I was detained,” he added in the social media video, according to the translated caption. “For three weeks, God opened doors for the preaching of His word. And there were many souls converted to Christ. That, my beloved brothers, is the victory we have in our Lord Jesus Christ.”
He told his supporters that they should find joy that souls received Christ as their savior.
His family maintained during his detention that Fuentes Espinal fled poverty and violence in 2001 and came to the U.S. seeking a safer life for his family, as other relatives had been killed back home. His daughter said he was in the process of applying for a green card.
While he is a “Honduran at heart,” Fuentes Espinal said he came to the U.S. “for a future for our children.” He joined a local Nazarene church in 2010 and became its pastor in 2015.
“We are here too, working for the Lord,” he said.
Earlier this year, Evangelical immigration advocates warned that President Donald Trump’s push for mass deportations would have a “direct impact” on churches in the U.S., especially immigrant-heavy congregations.
In April, a coalition of Christian organizations — including the National Association of Evangelicals and the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Department of Refugee and Migration Services — estimated that about 80% of the 10 million illegal immigrants who could be at risk of deportation from the U.S. are Christians.
Another pastor detained by immigration authorities in May, Maurilio Ambrocio, who leads a 50-member church in Florida, was deported in June to Guatemala more than two decades after entering the U.S. illegally. He was one of 100 Guatemalan immigrants deported from New Orleans through a charter flight.
