Florida pastor deported to Guatemala after weeks in detention
Published in News & Features
TAMPA, Fla. — A pastor from Wimauma was deported to Guatemala on Wednesday after spending more than two months in immigration custody, according to his family.
Maurilio Ambrocio was arrested on April 17 during a routine check-in at the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement office in Tampa, a visit he had made for more than 10 years without trouble.
Ambrocio said he was deported from New Orleans along with about 100 other Guatemalan immigrants on a charter flight. In his home country, local authorities allowed him to contact his family and provided information to help find work and reintegrate into the community.
Ashley Ambrocio, 19, his oldest daughter, said the family and friends who knew about her father’s work in the community felt deep sorrow over the news of his deportation. She plans to go to Guatemala City next week to visit him.
“My mother, my brothers, and I are very saddened by all this, but also relieved that my father is no longer in prison and is a free man,” she said during a phone interview. “We were very worried about his health and the fact that he was locked up for so long.”
Ambrocio, 42, led Iglesia de Santidad Vida Nueva, a small rural church where about 50 Hispanic worshippers and their families gathered each weekend. Most of the members were from Mexico and Central America.
Ambrocio was removed from the United States in 2006 and later returned without permission. He was convicted of driving without a license in 2012 and received a final removal order in 2013, though his family said he was later allowed to stay under supervision.
Immigration authorities didn’t respond to a request for comment on Ambrocio’s deportation. But in a previous statement about his case, Department of Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said “President Trump and Secretary Noem’s message to illegal aliens is clear: If you’re in the country illegally, leave now or face the consequences.”
In a WhatsApp interview, Ambrocio thanked the members of his church, friends and close relatives for their support during the time he was detained. Ambrocio said he and his family had held out hope until the end for a way to stay together.
“I am very sad because my family and I until the last moment hoped for a humanitarian solution to be able to return to my family,” he said. “But thank God I am free now.”
Ambrocio said he wants to focus on what he can do in Guatemala.
“It’s a country I left for the first time when I was a 15-year-old boy, living only with my grandparents,” Ambrocio said.
During his detention, Ambrocio lost 24 pounds and became sick with a sore throat more than once.
“The conditions were very difficult, and the treatment was very bad. I don’t think we deserved that because we are not bad people or criminals,” Ambrocio said. “But that time is over. Now we have to recover and think about what to do next.”
Ambrocio said he hopes he can return to his home in Wimauma soon and be with his family by going through the legal process.
“It won’t be easy but they need me,” Ambrocio said. “I need them too.”
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