The family of a volunteer pastor in Corpus Christi, Texas, said they’re hoping for a miracle after he was suddenly detained last month. On March 18, as Adolfo Gutierrez was taking his youngest daughter to school, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents apprehended the undocumented immigrant and drove him away in a van.
Alondra Gutierrez, the oldest of Adolfo’s three daughters, claimed that ICE personnel slammed her father against a vehicle while detaining him. “We wanted to know what was going to happen,” she said, but “ICE didn’t tell us any information.”
In addition to operating a home-remodeling business, Adolfo Gutierrez leads the Spanish-language church Casa Firme as a volunteer. He’s being held near the Mexican border, in El Valle Detention Facility.
Family: Texas Pastor Detained by ICE Has ‘Built a Life’ in America
Adolfo Gutierrez is “the provider of our home,” according to his wife, Eva. She set up a GoFund Me account, hoping to raise $8,000 to pay for attorney fees and court costs. “We believe that we all deserve a fair opportunity to fight for a better future with the help of God,” she wrote in Spanish, according to a translation app.
RELATED: Most Immigrants Who Are Vulnerable to Trump’s Mass Deportation Policies Are Christians: Report
Eva Gutierrez added that the couple’s daughters “are suffering every day with anxiety problems, they cannot sleep, they are very afraid, the way [their father] was taken away affected them greatly.” She concluded her plea for donations with the words of Psalm 143:8.
Alondra Gutierrez also shared how difficult the past two weeks have been for her family. “It is hard because we are used to being together,” she said. “I am the oldest in the family, and we are very attached. Every night, [my father was] home with us.”
Families receive little information after their loved ones are detained, Alondra said. “We just need to have a better court system,” she added. “There has to be more education on how to help the families going through this.”
With deportation a possibility for her father, Alondra said, “If that is the case, we are steadfast in God and his plans.” Speaking about her dad, she explained he has “built a life here” in America, while paying taxes and working hard. “He’s done everything right,” she said.
Texas Community Rallies Around Detained Pastor
After Adolfo Gutierrez was detained, Resolute Church in Corpus Christi held a fundraiser for his legal expenses. “We had unwavering support from a lot of families, even people from the school communities or church,” said daughter Alondra. Her dad, she noted, “has a good reputation in his business. All of his clients have great things to say about him.”
A fellow detainee also had positive words to say about her father, according to Alondra. When she visited the detention facility, someone approached her to say of Adolfo, “This man has unbelievable faith and has changed so much of my perspective in life,” she recalled. “He said that he wishes us so much luck in trying to fight this case, and he does believe in miracles because of [my father].”
_(53831699221).jpg){kind=link}
