When the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detained Pedro Garcia Luna in April, Manantial de Vida Presbyterian Church lost more than a member.
It lost one of its leaders.
Garcia Luna was a commissioned ruling elder in this Spanish-language Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) congregation in Erwin, North Carolina. His late July deportation has shaken a church where immigration enforcement is not a distant political issue but an everyday, personal reality.
“The hardest part is that we are all immigrants, but still we do the best we can and continue with the work we are here to do,” said Esequias Velasquez, ruling elder, who helps lead the church with his wife, Dina Chuc, pastor and commissioned ruling elder. “We do this in spite of the fear.”
The New York Times reported a recent surge in immigration arrests, with a majority of persons detained who had not been charged with or convicted of a crime.
Garcia Luna, 44, said he had no criminal convictions. He lived and worked in the United States for 26 years and had raised his 20-year-old son after his wife left when the boy was an infant.
Related reading: “PC(USA) agency urged to quickly fill immigration attorney vacancy” by John Bolt, Outlook reporting
“Manantial de Vida Church was always praying for me. I am grateful to the pastors and members of the church for looking out for me. I will never forget everything they did for me. May God always bless each and every one of them,” said Garcia Luna from his birthplace of Las Choapas in the Mexican state of Veracruz, where he was deported in late July.
Before joining the church in Erwin, Garcia Luna had been a pastor at another Spanish-language church within this presbytery in St. Pauls, North Carolina, according to Jerrod Lowry, general presbyter and stated clerk of the Presbytery of Coastal Carolina.
“He assisted at our church and was very active, very loving, very responsible,” said Chuc.
Related reading: “Clergy response to border patrol in Charlotte” by Patrice Gaines, Outlook reporting
The congregation at Manatial de Vida is close-knit and cares for each other, said Chuc. She said the church is “still vibrant, but scared” after witnessing a deportation of one of their own.
Garcia Luna was detained by ICE on his way to work on April 14 and held at a detention center in Georgia for more than three months. In late July, he was deported to Mexico.
“We want people to know we are also being hurt because we are human, but we must keep going.” — Dina Chuc, pastor of Manantial de Vida Presbyterian Church
Garcia Luna described the day ICE detained him: “I only remember that I was on my way to work …. Just before we arrived at the work site, they stopped us and asked if we had documents, and we told them we did not. They immediately handcuffed us and put us in chains. Personally, I had never been handcuffed or chained before, so I felt a little afraid.”
Garcia Luna continued, “They took us to Atlanta, Georgia, where I stayed for three months trying to resolve the matter with a lawyer. But I was not able to win my case, to the point that they sent me back to my country, Mexico, after I had lived in the United States for 26 years, without having committed any crime.”
From his church in North Carolina, Velasquez said that Garcia Luna had a lawyer and appeared before a judge in Georgia about four times, but in the end, the verdict was to deport Garcia Luna to Mexico.
“His time in jail was miserable — it was freezing cold, and the food was scarce and poor quality. They intimidated him into signing papers, agreeing to his removal to Mexico. Ultimately, it was a terrible experience,” said Velasquez.
“I find myself overwhelmed and frustrated. I don’t know what justice looks like in this political climate.” — Jerrod Lowry, Presbytery of Coastal Carolina
Garcia Luna described his time in the detention center in Georgia this way: “While I was in prison, I always shared my faith in Christ. We gathered every day to worship our good God, and I had the privilege of sharing the Word on many occasions.”
Chuc and Velasquez still talk to Garcia Luna once or twice a week. Velasquez said that his life in Mexico is very different. “He is struggling with the change. Things are very different there as compared to here in North Carolina,” he said.
While Garcia Luna was in detention, the congregation raised funds for his defense. The Presbytery of Coastal Carolina also helped with the legal fees. While they were not successful in stopping Garcia Luna’s deportation, the presbytery has emergency funds available if this happens to another church member.
“We consider the detaining of presbyters an emergency (like hurricanes),” said Lowry. The presbytery has formed a “Hispanic cabinet” where the Hispanic congregation leaders come together to ensure resources are available for Spanish-language congregations.
The human side of the deportations has come home for many Presbyterians. “Even though the members of [Manantial de Vida] live in fear, they keep coming back every Sunday,” said Barrett Payne, senior pastor of James Island Presbyterian Church. Payne helped establish Manantial de Vida when it moved into the former Erwin (NC) Presbyterian Church building in 2019.
“Fear is still very much there and present,” said Lowry of Manantial de Vida.
But Chuc said that a bright spot in recent months is seeing the church members regaining their confidence and becoming active again.
As pastor, Chuc reassures congregants that God is in control, and “God is with us.”
“No matter what we may face in our lives, know that life goes on and God will never fail us. He is and always will be faithful.” — Pedro Garcia Luna
“We choose to keep going,” Velasquez said.
“We want people to know we are also being hurt because we are human, but we must keep going,” she said.
Lowry was not as positive. “I find myself overwhelmed and frustrated. I don’t know what justice looks like in this political climate.”
“The faithful thing is not always the easy thing,” said Lowry. “We are called to do the faithful thing.”
Garcia Luna’s message to his fellow Presbyterians is that God is in control of our lives. “Wherever we may be in this world, we must continue believing that God is real. No matter what we may face in our lives, know that life goes on and God will never fail us. He is and always will be faithful.”
