The community in Easton came out to protest the taking of a local pastor by ICE agents. Delmarva Public Media's Kevin was there and has the story.
Federal immigration agents pulled up on a pastor in Easton last week and shipped him off to a detention center in Louisiana. The days that followed, both his church and community rallied around him, making enough noise to get national attention. Delmarva public media's Kevin Diaz has this report from Easton.
“I-C-E has got to go, hey hey.”
The mood here is one of shock, even anger. There was no large scale ICE raid, no roundup. Just one man pulled over on his way to work. Daniel Fuentes Espinal was a volunteer pastor at Iglesia del Nazareno Jesus Te Ama. In English, that's the Church of the Nazarene Jesus loves you. He had lived in the States for nearly 25 years, escaping poverty and violence in his native Honduras. A family man, 54 years old, a wife, three children, no record except for helping people find God. But according to U.S. Immigration Customs Enforcement, he overstayed a six month visa by 24 years. That made him a target of the Trump administration's crackdown on illegal immigration. Still, here in Easton, the arrest of a church leader has come as something of a shock.
“I think it's tragic that a minister who has served this community for as long and as well as I understand he has, has been abducted by ICE. I think that's absolutely tragic,”
That was Reverend Kathryn Adams, a Unitarian minister who joined this rally on Route 50 Friday evening to protest Fuentes' arrest. There were close to 200 protestors. Among them are other members of the clergy, like the Reverend Jessica Stehle of the Trinity Episcopal Cathedral in Easton.
“As a person of faith and a faith leader, my heart is, as Jesus would do, serve those on the margins, serve those and support those who are oppressed, those who are being treated unjust, and stand against laws that are not making any sense,” Stehle said.
What especially alarms Fuentes' supporters is a signal of fear that it sends, perhaps intentionally. Why target a church pastor who has hurt nobody? I put that question to Jesse Hernandez, a member of Fuentes' Church. She too is a native of Honduras, making a living for a family working in a fast food restaurant.
“I'm sad he was here more than 20 years preaching the word of God, and for the rest of us, it's especially bad after seeing what happened to him. We are afraid to go out and do anything,” Hernandez said.
Under pressure to bolster Trump's numbers on deportations, it appears that ICE has put aside any notion of prioritizing criminals. It is clear they're now taking anyone without legal status that they can find. In Easton, that includes a well-known minister who wasn't exactly living in hiding. His friends and family say he had been trying for years to get a green card, but was stymied by bureaucracy. Now they've raised more than $41,000 on GoFundMe for his legal defense.
“I think people are very frustrated with a peaceful man who has been here for three decades, who has three children,”
That's Michelle Dappert of the Talbot County Democratic Forum.
“I think everyone is very frustrated and angry and bringing alarm bells about that. They've arrested somebody who, I can't stress enough, has not caused any trouble, has been here, and has attempted to get legal documentation for a long time, and it is not on him that our government has failed to provide a pathway. We're not saying that this isn't about doing it the right way or the wrong way when there is no right way to do it,” Dappert explained.
Right way or wrong way, they hope Pastor Fuentes has not run out of time. For Delmarva Public Media. This is Kevin Diaz in Easton, Maryland.
“Hey, hey, ho ho, I-C-E has got to go.”
