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Iowa Faith Community Rallies Behind Pastor Facing Deportation

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Yesterday, we were notified about Max in Iowa.

Max is a Mennonite pastor who was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on March, 3 and is facing deportation.

Max is a long-time community member of Iowa City, Iowa and has 4 US Citizen children. Still, ICE arrived without warning at Villatoro’s home at 6:30am and they took him before he had a chance to say goodbye to his wife, Gloria, and his children.

Over the last few days, Iowans (lead by the Center for Worker Justice for Eastern Iowa and Max’s church, Iglesia Menonita Torre Fuerte) rallied to his support and last night they held a vigil outside the detention center with dozens of supporters.

Here’s more on Max’s story and the strong community response to ICE detaining him.

And here are a few pictures from the rally courtesy of El Tueque Iowa.