Third New York Episcopalian detained by ICE within a week
[Episcopal News Service] A third Episcopalian in the Diocese of New York was arrested and detained by U.S. Immigration Customs and Enforcement this week at Federal Plaza in Manhattan.
The unnamed Episcopalian is a parishioner of the Church of St. Mary the Virgin in Midtown Manhattan. He was detained while going to a routine asylum hearing on Aug. 4.
“We ask for your prayers for him and for the community of St. Mary the Virgin, and all who are wrongfully detained,” the Diocese of New York wrote in an Aug. 6 Facebook post.
The man’s arrest occurred four days after Yeonsoo “Soo” Go, a visa holder from South Korea, and Elizabeth “Ketty” De Los Santos, an asylum-seeker from Peru, were arrested and sent to ICE’s Richwood Correction Center in Monroe, Louisiana. Go has since been released and has reunited with her mother, the Rev. Kyrie Kim, an Episcopal priest in the Diocese of New York. No further updates have been provided for De Los Santos, but she is believed to still be in Louisiana.
Asylum-seekers, like De Los Santos and the unnamed Episcopalian, and refugees leave their homes for a variety of reasons, including but not limited to war, violence and persecution over race, ethnicity, religion or sexual orientation. Seeking asylum in the United States is legal.
Although the terms migrants and asylum-seekers are often used interchangeably, not all migrants are asylum-seekers. The latter are people seeking protection from persecution or violence, but who haven’t yet been legally recognized as refugees.
As of Aug. 1, 56,579 migrants and asylum-seekers are in ICE custody, according to the latest available data compiled by NBC News.
This story will be updated when more information is available.
-Shireen Korkzan is a reporter and assistant editor for Episcopal News Service. She can be reached at skorkzan@episcopalchurch.org.
