A preacher who led a small Hispanic church in Florida has been deported to Guatemala after two decades on American soil. The 42-year-old immigrant is married with five children.
Maurilio Ambrocio pastored the 50 members of Iglesia de Santidad Vida Nueva in Wimauma. He told the Tampa Bay Times he was one of the 100 Guatemalan immigrants deported from New Orleans through a charter flight after he was arrested in mid-April during a routine check-in at the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) office in Tampa.
Ambrocio, who entered the U.S. illegally after fleeing his home in Guatemala when he was just 15 years old, lived in Florida for more than 20 years.
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The minister was allowed to remain in the U.S. because of a stay of removal, which required him to meet annually with federal agents and refrain from committing any crimes. With his wife, Ambrocio has five children, ranging in age from 12 to 19, all of whom are American citizens.
A representative for ICE said Ambrocio was removed because he entered the country illegally.
Ashley, the couple’s eldest child, told the Times the family is “very saddened” by Ambrocio’s detention and deportation “but also relieved” he is “no longer in prison and is a free man.”
During a May interview with NPR, Ambrocio’s wife Marleny said that, for their children, it felt like their “world ended” when Ambrocio was deported.
“How are we going to eat?” she asked rhetorically. “How are we going to pay bills?”
President Donald Trump’s administration has said its focus is on violent criminal migrants, but that has not stopped ICE from deporting people like Ambrocio.
CBN’s Faithwire previously reported on Maria Isidro, a mother and pastor’s wife deported to Mexico after living in the U.S. for decades.
Tricia McLaughlin, assistant secretary for public affairs at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, told CBN News Isidro was ordered to leave the country years ago, after receiving “a final order of removal” on Oct. 21, 2004, after failing to show up for a court date.
“She has exhausted all due process and has no legal remedies left to pursue,” explained McLaughlin. “After failing to self-deport and leave the U.S. for more than two decades, ICE arrested her on June 3, 2025, and deported her on June 11, 2025.”
The intense push on immigration reform and the federal crackdown on illegal immigration are the fulfillment of one of Trump’s biggest campaign promises. In an effort to make good on the president’s pledge, the White House is pressuring federal agents to arrest up to 3,000 people per day, totaling more than one million annually.
Watch CBN News’ interview with Isidro’s daughter Daniella below:
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