A Sign of the (Trump) Times: In Florida, an immigrant pastor’s detention sends a community reeling

Jasmine Garsd for NPR reports on the case from “the swamplands south of Tampa, Florida” of Maurilio Ambrocio, an Evangelical Pastor at a local church who has lived in the United States for 20 years. According to the report, “[h]e also owns a landscaping business, tending the lawns and yards . . . .”    

A few weeks ago, Ambrocio was detained in President Trump’s massive removal campaign. He “had gone in for one of his mandatory check-ins with immigration agents: he has a form of legal protection called a stay of removal. That means although he entered the U.S. unlawfully he is allowed to remain, as long as he meets with immigration officials at least once a year. They ask him if he’s still employed and check that he hasn’t committed any crimes. Every year for the last ten years or so, Ambrocio has attended these interviews and been approved. . . . But on April 18th, he was detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.”

KJ