The preacher who led a small Hispanic church in Florida was deported to Guatemala 20 years later in American soil. The 42-year-old immigrant is married to five children.
Maurilio Ambrocio was pastored by 50 members of Iglesia de Santidad Vida Nueva in Wimauma. He told the Tampa Bay Times that he was one of 100 Guatemalan immigrants deported from New Orleans through charter flights after being arrested in mid-April at the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) office in Tampa.
Ambrosio illegally entered the United States after fleeing his Guatemala home at just 15 years old, but lived in Florida for more than 20 years.
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The minister demanded that he meet with federal agents annually and refrained from committing crimes. Along with his wife, Ambrosio has five children, ranging from 12 to 19 years old, all American citizens.
Ice representatives said Ambrosio was removed because Ambrosio had illegally entered the country.
The couple’s eldest son, Ashley, told The Times that Ambrosio’s detention and deportation “the family is “very saddened.”
In a May interview with NPR, Ambrosio’s wife Marrenny said that for their children it felt like they were “the world was over” when Ambrosio was deported.
“How do you eat?” she asked rhetorically. “How are you going to pay the bill?”
President Donald Trump’s administration said its focus was on violent criminal immigration, but that has not stopped the ice from deporting people like Ambrosio.
CBN’s Faithwire previously reported that her mother and pastor’s wife, Maria Isidro, was deported to Mexico after living in the United States for decades.
Tricia McLaughlin, assistant secretary for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s spokesperson, said she was ordered to CBN News several years ago after receiving a “final removal order” after not appearing on a court date on October 21, 2004.
“She’s exhausted from all due processes and has no legal remedies to pursue,” explained McLaughlin. “After failing to self-abolize for more than 20 years and leaving the United States, ICE arrested her on June 3, 2025 and deported her on June 11, 2025.”
The fierce push for immigration reform and the federal crackdown on illegal immigration are one of Trump’s biggest campaign promises. The White House is pressuring federal agents to arrest up to 3,000 people per day to keep up to the president’s pledge, bringing a total of more than 1 million people a year.
Check out the CBN News interview with Isidro’s daughter Daniela below.
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