Pastor Daniel Fuentes Espinal is currently preaching at a detention center in Louisiana after Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents arrested him in Maryland just days prior.
“He’s a remarkably resilient man, and for all of the trauma that he has been subjected to and the stress that’s been inflicted upon him and on his family, he is upbeat and his spirits are good,” Len Foxwell, a spokesperson for the family, told Maryland Matters.
The community in Eastern Shore, Maryland, knows Fuentes Espinal as the pastor of Jesus Te Ama Iglesia del Nazareno in Easton, which translates to Jesus Love You Church of the Nazarene. He’s been the pastor since 2015. It’s an unpaid position at the church. He works in construction to pay the family’s bills.
ICE agents arrested Fuentes Espinal at a hardware store he stopped in for construction materials while he was on his way to work. Unidentified agents reportedly stopped him, arrested him, and then transferred him to Baltimore. His family found out about his whereabouts when he called later that night, as the family was about to file a missing person’s report. Days later, he was transferred to the detention facility near New Orleans, Louisiana.
“His exact words to his daughter were: ‘This must be God’s plan,’” said Foxwell.
Foxwell organized a GoFundMe campaign titled “Help Free Pastor Daniel Fuentes Espinal.” More than $40,000 of the $50,000 foal has already been raised.
“Your contribution will be used by his family to cover Pastor Fuentes Espinal's growing legal expenses and provide his family with basic needs in the absence of their primary breadwinner,” a statement from the campaign reads.
According to the family, Fuentes Espinal is a father of three and beloved in the Eastern Shore community. He is an undocumented immigrant from Honduras who has lived in the U.S. for 24 years and doesn’t have a criminal record.
His arrest comes as President Donald Trump tries to make good on a campaign promise of enacting mass deportations if reelected. As a result, ICE agents are showing up in places that are known for day laborers and reportedly raiding previously off-limits places, such as courthouses, schools, and hospitals.
Critics say the Trump administration is engaging in racial profiling and is only stopping people for looking Hispanic. Opponents are also criticizing the administration, which said it would only go after the “worst of the worst.” However, as Maryland Matters reports, only 45% of people arrested have criminal convictions. The other 40% are like Fuentes Espinal: people who do not have any criminal record.