California minister detained, facing deportation

This is noteworthy: the first I’ve heard of a clergyman being detained. Now posters bearing the image above are circulating around Los Angeles, asking for support.

From the Los Angeles Daily News:

A North Hollywood woman and her two young children were grappling Monday with the news that her husband, a pastor, was detained by immigration authorities during an appointment at the Federal Building in downtown Los Angeles. Victoria Carias said her 42-year-old husband, Noe Carias, pastor of the Southern Pacific District of the Assemblies of God, was detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement during his check-in appointment Monday morning. Carias, who did not have a criminal record, was deported in 1993 and received another deportation order in 1995, for which he eluded deportation, his lawyer Noemi Ramirez said. “I’m feeling devastated for what is happening, but I’m just trusting in God and hoping that something good can come out of all of this,” Victoria Carias, 39, said after a prayer vigil outside the Federal Building that houses offices for ICE and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. ICE officials did not have an immediate comment about the case on Monday. When Noe Carias checked in with immigration authorities earlier this year, he was told he had to return in three months, which he did on Monday, said Victoria Carias, who is a U.S. citizen. The family found out a few weeks ago that their request to stay his petition for removal was rejected, she added. While the vast majority of arrests in the greater Los Angeles area still involve individuals who have criminal histories, U.S. Homeland Security Secretary John F. Kelly has made clear that no removable foreign national is exempt from enforcement.

Read on. 

Meantime, a local Christian group, Matthew 25, is circulatinga petitionon his behalf and organizing rallies.

Flashback: The USCCB weighed in on the issue of deportation several months back:

In a letter read Nov. 14 during the fall general assembly of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, the chairman of the bishops’ Committee on Migration, Auxiliary Bishop Eusebio L. Elizondo of Seattle, called on President-elect Donald Trump “to continue to protect the inherent dignity of refugees and migrants.” In a television interview Nov. 13, Trump said he is looking at a plan to deport 2 million to 3 million people whom he described as “criminal and have criminal records” and entered the country without permission. A day later, the U.S. bishops, meeting in Baltimore, affirmedBishop Elizondo’s letter encouraging efforts “to work together to promote the common good, especially those to protect the most vulnerable among us.” In the letter, first released late Nov. 11, Bishop Elizondo said he was praying for Trump, “all elected officials and those who will work in the new administration. I offer a special word to migrant and refugee families living in the United States: Be assured of our solidarity and continued accompaniment as you work for a better life.” Bishop Elizondo asked for the protection of the family unit, as “the cornerstone of society,” and asked that the new administration recognize the contributions of refugees and immigrants “to the overall prosperity and well-being of our nation.”