September 21, 2026
The Honorable Markwayne Mullin, Secretary of Homeland Security
Department of Homeland Security
2707 Martin Luther King Jr. Ave. SE
Washington, DC 20528-0525
Dear Secretary Mullin:
We write on behalf of the Confraternity of Pentecostal Entities of the Americas (CEPA), a fellowship of pastors, bishops, and faith leaders representing more than 21,000 churches and nearly 4 million members. In recent months, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has detained a number of pastors and leaders from our churches. We come to you on their behalf.
Pastors and Faith Leaders for Consideration:
Luis Enrique Guerrero Guerrero
Pastor Marco Antonio Fuentes Cruz
Carlos Lopez
Sister Vera
Pastor Roeli Cal
Pastor Alex Ávila
Pastor Félix Sánchez
Pastor Jorge Garibello
Pastor Carlos Armando
Pastor Domingo Graillo
Pastor Nicolas Lopez
Juan Carlos
Juan Clamo
Juan José Vargas
Manuel Turnil
Juan Ramon Villanueva
Edgar José
Faustino Cajero Ignacio
Matia Flores
Carlos Benjamin
Romans 13 teaches us that governing authorities are established by God, and we recognize the government’s responsibility to maintain public order, enforce the laws of the United States, and keep our nation safe. Yet the same chapter teaches that love does no harm to a neighbor and that love is the fulfillment of the law. We believe these responsibilities can be held together: the law can be upheld while mercy is shown to families and congregations facing great harm.
Immigration status does not erase the image of God in any person. Our duty as Christian leaders is to speak when families are being separated and when the people entrusted to our care are suffering. Mercy is not a rejection of justice; it is one of the ways justice honors human dignity.
Across our fellowship, bishops and pastors have received calls from frightened families and congregations suddenly left without their spiritual leaders. Our churches have supported wives raising children alone, prayed with sons and daughters missing their fathers, and helped congregations continue without the pastors who have guided them through illness, grief, and hardship.
Behind every name on this list is a life of service. These men preach on Sundays, visit the sick, counsel couples, and pray with families in hospital rooms and at gravesides. Their detention leaves families without loved ones and entire congregations without the people they turn to during life’s most difficult moments.
We understand that every immigration case involves its own legal facts. We ask that each decision also account for the pastor’s family responsibilities, years of ministry, community relationships, and the consequences his continued detention places on others.
For these reasons, we ask you and the Department of Homeland Security to review each person named in this letter and use every lawful avenue available to release these pastors from detention. We ask that they be permitted to return to their families and churches while their immigration proceedings continue.
CEPA is prepared to provide additional information about these pastors, their families, and their service to their congregations. We would welcome the opportunity to meet with you or your staff to discuss the cases and the forms of relief that may be available.
Our churches pray for you and for all who carry the weight of public office. We ask God to give you wisdom, sound judgment, and a merciful heart in the work before you.
Respectfully and prayerfully,
Confraternity of Pentecostal Entities of the Americas (CEPA)