Haitian pastor detained by ICE spared deportation at the last minute

A Haitian pastor who was detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and on the verge of being deported was given a last-minute reprieve.

Pastor Molis Augustave, a married father of two, had lived in Pennsylvania for the past six years before the Department of Homeland Security removed Temporary Protected Status for Haitian migrants this summer.

ICE detained him on Sept. 5 after being pulled over by West York Borough Police for a broken headlight and was scheduled to be deported on Thursday. But in response to public outcry, immigration officials granted him a reprieve shortly before he was slated to be deported so that his green card application could be considered.

Augustave, who serves at Iglesia de Dios Voz de Alerta, remains at an ICE facility in Louisiana, the advocacy group We Are CASA reports. He remains separated from his wife and two young children after having been moved between three different ICE facilities in Pennsylvania and Louisiana over the last two weeks.

“Molis told his wife last night [Thursday] that he was so scared as he was being loaded onto the plane. Then he was indeed taken off the plane at the last minute. This is a win. This is time; this is hope,” We Are CASA’s Chief of Services and Legal Advocacy Ama Frimpong said in a statement.

"With the additional time that we secured, we were also able to file an emergency motion to reopen his removal proceedings and request an emergency stay of removal from the Board of Immigration Appeals. Both remain pending."

Augustave also has an I-485 application pending with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services to apply for a green card while inside the United States, Frimpong said.

"We have secured time," she stressed. "But it does not end here. We must remain alert; we must remain vigilant; and we must make sure that we hold the Department of Homeland Security accountable to its duties.” 

ICE officials told FOX43 that Augustave encountered Border Patrol agents in 2016 after illegally entering the U.S. but was later released. In March 2018, an immigration judge ordered him to leave the country. 

The pastor was previously scheduled to be one of 90 Haitians on a flight out of the country, reports NewsNation. But he was pulled off the flight after a nationwide campaign including faith leaders, elected officials and community organizations demanded that the pastor be allowed to remain in the country with his family while his green card application is pending. 

“Today, Pastor Molis needs his community to speak for him," said Pastor Jose Lopez, a colleague of Molis at the Iglesia de Dios Voz de Alerta. "Before we see a case or a number, let us see the human being; let us see the father who longs to embrace his children again; let us see the Pastor whose congregation misses his leadership. Let us see the man who has dedicated his time, strength, and his heart to serving others.”

We Are Casa is calling for a review of Augustave's application be "fair and thorough," urging authorities not to "retaliate against him for speaking out."

“For the past six years, Pastor Molis has made York a better place. He didn’t just live here, he built a life here. He built a family here. He became a pastor here. He became someone that people could count on from day to day as their needs arose,” Pennsylvania state Rep. Carol Hill-Evans, a Democrat, said in a statement.

“Now his wife and children are waiting for him. His congregation is waiting for him. 
And his community is waiting for him for his return. Molis deserves due process. He deserves a fair review of his green card application, and his family deserves the chance to share and to be whole again.”

In Ohio, Haitian Pastor Joubert Adrien of Springfield was recently released from ICE detention after being arrested by agents last month, though his case is still ongoing in the courts.

Upon his release, the community organizations Haitian Support Center and Undivided held a press conference in support of Adrien and other Haitians from Ohio who were recently detained.

“Pastor Adrien is not only a pastor,” said Michaelle Louis, a member of Undivided, reported Spectrum News 1. “He’s someone who has spent his time helping people, immigrants and U.S. citizens alike, through difficult moments.”

Haitian Support Center Executive Director Viles Dorsainvil said that there were other incidents of concern, including when ICE reportedly detained the mother of a newborn.

“So, she went for ICE check in with her two months old baby,” Dorsainvil was quoted by Spectrum News as saying. “They kept her and gave the baby back to the driver who took her to that ICE check-in, and the woman did not even know the driver that well.”

Last November, the Trump administration announced that it was ending Temporary Protected Status for Haitians living in the United States, with the TPS officially ending in July.

In June, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 6-3 in the case of Mullin v. Doe to uphold the federal government’s decision to terminate TPS for immigrants from Haiti, as well as Syria.

The majority concluded that federal law prohibited judicial review of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's decisions to extend or eliminate the temporary status for a nation.