Sharing their story: Immigrant church members are deported or detained

By Irv Heishman

While some of us were at the Church of the Brethren Annual Conference, on Saturday, July 5, our church member Armando Leonel Reyes Rodriguez was deported. (See previous Newsline articles about the church’s advocacy for Rodriguez and his family at www.brethren.org/news/2025/prayer-is-requested and www.brethren.org/news/2025/congregation-requests-support among others.)

Armando has given me permission to share his story. His three-day deportation journey–with hands and feet shackled, while hungry–was from Ohio, to New Jersey, to Louisiana, to Texas, to Guatemala, ending finally in Honduras. We are in contact with him, our church has wired money down to him, and he has been sharing the details of his story with me.

ICE failed to send with him the backpack of clothing and necessities that the church had provided to them, so he arrived in Honduras with only the clothes he had been wearing for the three-day journey.

His family remains in the United States–a real dilemma for them in that they were forced to choose between being together as a family or pursuing their asylum case. Armando was not eligible for asylum but was allowed to be in the country with them when the policy was focused on keeping families together. That policy has been rescinded and therefore Armando became deportable.

In addition to Armando, a brother of one of our church members also is detained and scheduled to be deported. In his case, he was appealing the court decision to deny him asylum. While detained, he appealed to be released on bond while he pursued his case, but bond was denied. This left him with the unbearable “choice” of pursuing his asylum case while incarcerated, which would take up to three years, or agree to be deported. He chose the latter and I have helped his wife purchase airline tickets to Honduras for herself and their children. In this case, the family is choosing to voluntarily self-deport in order to remain together. I am thankful that ICE is giving her ample time of a few months to sell belongings and pack for the journey.

I was able to visit the brother of our church member, who remains detained at the Butler County Jail even though he has agreed to be deported. The lengthy delay is incredibly frustrating for him. Prison food is of poor quality and often leaves him constipated. Conditions in the jail are difficult. He doesn’t have any information as to why there is no movement on his case and situation. Since he is being forced to deport, he would like to get it over with and try to start again in Honduras.

We also feel the tragedy of the detention of Hansell, who is part of Lower Miami Church of the Brethren, another congregation in Southern Ohio and Kentucky District. He is a faithful, hardworking, and loving father and an asylum applicant. He was detained on June 23 when he appeared with his lawyer for a scheduled immigration appointment, without being able to plead his case. As of the latest news, he remains in the Butler County Jail as his lawyers struggle to make sure that his asylum case is heard. He has been away from his wife and two young children for more than six weeks.

How to share the stories

In hopes of countering false narratives about our immigrant neighbors and siblings in Christ, here are some thoughts about how to share stories like these:

Write an op-ed for a local newspaper.
Contact state senators and representatives, because they do take note.
Invite local news reporters and other media to do interviews.
Consider traveling to places where those who are detained are being held, and perhaps even to countries such as Honduras to meet people where they have been deported.
Hold a public service of lament, with the media invited, to share people’s stories.

I accompanied an ecumenical group of clergy who visited the Butler County Jail earlier this week to talk with the deputy sheriff and tour the facility. The tour of the jail was very limited but was offered in response to a letter of concern we sent out. We had the opportunity to reiterate our concerns. The letter sent to the prison and county commissioners follows below. It was reported on by NPR, go to www.wvxu.org/local-news/2025-08-11/concerns-treatment-ice-detainees-butler-county-jail

— Irv Heishman is a pastor at West Charleston Church of the Brethren, where Rodriguez and his family are members.

Full text of letter:

Monday, July 28, 2025

To the Commissioners of Butler County, the Butler County Sheriff’s Office and the General Public:

Greetings in the Name of the Lord.

We are Christian faith leaders serving in Butler County. We are writing to share personal concerns about the ICE detention facility now operating in Hamilton. This is a matter of conscience; we represent ourselves only, not our congregations.

On April 14th a pastoral colleague of ours, Rev. Caleb Kragt, accompanied a member of his church to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) office in Blue Ash. Armando Reyes, a Honduran native, entered this country legally in 2021 seeking asylum for himself and his young family. The human rights situation in Honduras was (and still is) deplorable, and he received express permission to live here. He and his family joined West Charleston Church of the Brethren, where, according to his pastors, he lived out his Christian faith honorably and humbly, and with a great readiness to serve others.

Mr. Reyes had fully complied with all requests of ICE, which included wearing an ankle monitor despite having never been charged with a crime. He was told that if he appeared at their Blue Ash office it would be removed, but he was instead put in handcuffs and later sent to the detention facility in Hamilton.

Why did this happen? Simply put, the rules changed around keeping families united while asylum cases are being adjudicated. It does not seem fair to us that these new rules should apply to someone who came here legally four years ago and has been diligently following the process as he understood it. We are likewise worried about how these practices diminish respect for the law among our young people. A 19 year-old Cincinnati man by the name of Emerson Colindres, also originally from Honduras, was arrested, held in our Butler County facility, and then quickly deported. He’d been in the US since he was 8 years old. His high school soccer team, his coach, and even players from other schools demonstrated on his behalf. As a minor he didn’t have a choice to come to this country in the first place. Again, this seems unfair to us.

We do understand that ICE is a federal agency, and not directly accountable to Butler County. But having the ICE facility in our county links us to what we’ve come to see as an unfair and unduly harsh administration of new immigration laws. We are also concerned about reports of abuse suffered by some detainees in ICE facilities. And as those who are ministering to the local immigrant population, and often the Latino community as well, we can testify that law-abiding residents are now afraid to report crimes for fear of being arrested instead of aided. In our view this poses a danger not only to immigrants and their families but to the general population.

We would therefore welcome a discussion about ICE’s use of our correctional facility in Butler County, and the possible non-renewal of its contract. At the very least it would send a message that we stand by those law-abiding immigrants who pay taxes, obey our laws, and pose no threat to our common welfare.

Finally, we must acknowledge that in the majority of cases our concerns have been respectfully received by staff at the Butler County jail, by those who are part of immigration enforcement and by the commissioners. We mean no disrespect to these public servants, and have in fact expressed our gratitude as we navigate this difficult new road for our nation. Even so, we must stand by the aforementioned expressions of concern.

God’s Peace to You,

(Affiliations listed for identification purposes only)

Rev. Kim Armentrout, First United Methodist Church, Middletown;
Rev. Michael Bailey, Faith United Church, Middletown
Rev. Lawrence Bartel, Oxford Presbyterian Church, Oxford
Rev. Marc van Bulck, Oxford Presbyterian Church, Oxford
Fr. John Civille, Holy Family Catholic Church, Middletown
Minister Marie Edwards, Faith United Church, Middletown
Rev. Julie Blake Fisher, Holy Trinity Episcopal Church, Oxford
Rev. Mark Finfrock, First United Methodist Church of Hamilton
Rev. Caleb Henry, Oxford United Methodist Church, Oxford
Rev. Peter Hamm, Jacksonburg United Methodist Church, Jacksonburg
Pastor Ruth Kelly, Greater Faith Baptist Church, Middletown
Rev. Scott C. Johnson, Crosspointe Church of Christ, Middletown
Rev. Joe Kay, Nexus United Church of Christ, Hamilton
Rev. Larry Kreps, Retired, Middletown
Rev. Adam Profitt, Middletown Nazarene Church, Middletown
Rev. Scotty Robertson, First Baptist Church, Middletown
Rev. Roger Smith, Middletown
Rev. Kelly Venturini, Pleasant Ridge United Methodist Church, Middletown
Rev. John Wagner, Seven Mile United Methodist Church, Seven Mile

Church of the Brethren Pastors Outside of Butler County

Pastor Nick Beam, District Executive, Southern Ohio and Kentucky District of the Church of the
Brethren
Paula Bowser, retired
Pastor Tom Bowser, retired
Pastor Terrilynn Griffith, retired
Pastor Irvin Heishman, West Charleston Church of the Brethren
Pastor Caleb Kragt, West Charleston Church of the Brethren
Pastor Mark Lancaster, Trotwood Church of the Brethren
Pastor Deb Oskin, Living Peace Church of the Brethren, Columbus
Pastor Bruce E. Rosenberger, Living Peace Church of the Brethren, Columbus
Pastor Barbara Sayler, Chaplain
Pastor Lee Saylor, Salem Church of the Brethren and West Milton Church of the Brethren
Pastor John Sgro, Prince of Peace Church of the Brethren, Kettering
Rev. Dr. Daniel W. Ulrich, Bethany Theological Seminary, Richmond
Pastor Paula Ulrich, Beacon Heights Church of the Brethren, Fort Wayne
Pastor Andrew J.O. Wright, Oakland Church of the Brethren, Bradford
Pastor Mike Yingst, Covington Church of the Brethren

Dayton Daily News: “Dayton father, Honduran immigrant detained at Butler County Jail will be deported” www.daytondailynews.com/local/dayton-father-honduran-immigrant-detained-at-butler-county-jailwill-be-deported/JHSKJDOSZJHXPFC5SOVSTX7A3Y

Dayton Daily News: “‘I realized that people really love me:’ Cincinnati teen speaks out on recent deportation to Honduras.’” www.daytondailynews.com/local/i-realized-that-people-really-love-me-cincinnati-teenspeaks-out-on-recent-deportation-to-honduras/I26IMJGQUVCBJHK55VVSR3LSVQ

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