YORK, PA — Despite relentless advocacy from his family, faith leaders, and a national coalition of supporters, ICE deported Pastor Molis Augustave to Haiti. The federal government fast-tracked his deportation after local police stopped him for a purported broken headlight, instead of providing a fair review of his pending I-485 application for lawful permanent residence that would have kept him with his U.S. Citizen wife, family, and congregation in York. His legal proceedings are still underway, with a pending Motion to Reopen his Removal Proceedings before the Board of Immigration Appeals. This beloved York pastor, husband, and father was raised to national renown through his liberation campaign. From the Louisiana detention center, the pastor sent this prayer to the world: “I am here to glorify the Lord in this moment. Although I know the battle has not ended, it’s God who will give us victory. Many who lose faith, many who lose hope, Lord, through deportation… who are desperate, who have lost faith, who think it all ends: God, I know you have the last word. Lord, help us to go out and find those families, to bring peace and joy to our families. Especially for me, Lord. We thank you. We call on you, Lord, in the name of Jesus. Amen and amen.” Pastor Molis spent his days in the detention center launching a Bible study group, calming and counseling a man contemplating suicide, talking to his wife, and praying. He wondered what God’s plan was for him and prayed for those whom the world did not know, remember, or celebrate. He published this oped reflection from detention: “And I now understand something I did not understand before I was detained: For every person whose name becomes known, there are so many others whose names we never hear. People knew my name. Reporters told my story. Advocates fought for me. My wife fought for me. My community prayed for me. People I had never met cared about whether I would be put on that plane. That is a blessing I will never forget. But what about the other 89 [who were on the first deportation plane I was on]? Who knows their names? Who knows whether one of them was afraid? Who knows whether one left children behind? Who knows whether someone arrived in Haiti without family or friends to receive them?” The campaign for his liberation, launched by his wife Omara, local and national groups, faith leaders, attorneys, legislators, and allies, exploded at the national level after police handed the pastor to ICE on September 5. ICE scheduled him on a deportation flight on September 17. However, we got him pulled off the flight at the last minute because of the pressure to review his I-485 green card application. DHS rushed to deny it two business days later on September 21 and then thrust him on a flight to Haiti on September 24. The ICE timeline from apprehension to deportation is 19 days (September 5-24, 2026). “The Trump administration deported a shepherd,” said Jossie Flor Sapunar, National Communications Director of We Are CASA. “The federal government feared a Black man from Haiti who loved his wife, cared for his children, pastored a congregation, and made a people-powered movement. He thrived in York despite their best intention to silence him and people like him. They evicted him and so many other Black immigrants from this country. But they cannot deport a legacy. The love he poured into his family, his church, and his community spread throughout the United States, despite the hate that the Trump administration spews.” “This is what happens when a government decides that due process is a privilege it can revoke at will,” said Ama Frimpong, Chief of Services and Legal Advocacy at We Are CASA. “Pastor Molis had an approved I-130 petition. He had a pending I-485 application. He had a pending motion to reopen. He had a habeas petition. He had a family. He had a community that stood with him. None of that mattered. USCIS did not review his case. In summarily denying his green card application, it rubber-stamped a predetermined determination to deport him. But here is the truth they do not understand: Pastor Molis is not just a number to meet a quota. He is a father. He is a husband. He is a pastor. And we will not stop until he is back where he belongs.” “The Haitian people have already suffered too much. They have been forced to flee their native homes due to extreme violence political turmoil, destabilization, poverty, and famine due in part to the US. Foreign policies towards Haiti,” said Guerline Jozef, Co-Founder and Executive Director of the Haitian Bridge Alliance. “Pastor Molis is a man of God. He is a Haitian Christian who built a life in America, who is married to an American citizen, who raised American children, who pastored an American and Haitian congregation. And this administration put him on a plane like he was nothing. This is cruel and inhumane. This is ethnic cleansing dressed up in bureaucratic language. We will continue fight for Pastor Molis. We will fight for every immigrant sent back to a country they do where they are not guaranteed safety and protection. And we will not stop until they are all able to stay here with their families .” His wife, Omara, and two young children, Isaac and Sofia, are now left to face an empty seat at the table tonight. ### With more than 192,000 lifetime members across 46 states, We Are CASA is a national powerhouse organization building power and improving the quality of life in working-class Black, Latino/a/e, Afro-descendant, Indigenous, and immigrant communities. We Are CASA creates change through a power-building model that blends human services, community organizing, and advocacy to serve the full spectrum of its members’ needs, dreams, and aspirations. Haitian Bridge Alliance (HBA) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit community organization based in Southern California that advocates for fair and humane immigration policies and connects migrants with humanitarian, legal, social services, with a particular focus on black migrants, the Haitian community, women, LGBTQ individuals and survivors of torture and other human rights abuses.