A Honduran pastor living on Maryland’s Eastern Shore, who overstayed his visa for more than twenty years, has released and went home after being detained at the end of July by federal immigration authorities. During his detention, he shared that he ministered to several souls who came to Christ.
On Sunday, a family friend posted a video on social media in which Pastor Daniel Fuentes Espinal of Iglesia del Nazareno Jesus Te Ama in Easton expressed gratitude to supporters for their prayers and financial assistance over the past three weeks of his detention.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrested Fuentes Espinal on July 21 while he was returning to a construction site, alleging that he had entered the U.S. on a 6-month visa but had “never left in 24 years.”
He was initially detained in Salisbury, then transferred to Baltimore, and later moved to detention in Louisiana.
Supporters emphasize that the pastor has no criminal record and is well known throughout Easton for his charitable work, including providing food, shelter, clothing, and emergency funds to vulnerable residents across town.
In another social media video shared on Sunday, Fuentes Espinal said in Spanish that he shared the hope of Jesus with many others in detention in Louisiana.
“The glory of the Lord was manifested in the place where I was detained,” he added in the social media post. “For three weeks, God opened doors for the preaching of His word. And there were many souls converted to Christ. That, my beloved brothers, is the victory we have in our Lord Jesus Christ.” He encouraged his supporters to find joy in the fact that many souls received Christ as their Savior.
During his detention, Fuentes Espinal's family stated that he fled poverty and violence in 2001 to pursue a safer life in the U.S., as other relatives had been killed back home. He joined a local Nazarene church in 2010 and became its pastor in 2015. His daughter mentioned that he was in the process of applying for a green card.
In April, a coalition of Christian organizations—including the National Association of Evangelicals and the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Department of Refugee and Migration Services—estimated that about 80% of the 10 million undocumented immigrants in the U.S. might be at risk of deportation, many of whom are Christians.
