A local church has been protesting outside the Butler County Jail, rallying around a Dayton immigrant and congregation member taken into custody by ICE.
According to federal and local court papers, there are no charges listed against him nor is there an explanation for his arrest.
Monday morning, Armando Leonel Reyes Rodriguez and his pastor, Caleb Kragt, drove to the ICE office in Blue Ash, Kentucky. Rodriguez has regularly been checking in with agents either in person or digitally.
"They had called him, told him to appear, told him it would be the end of monitoring for him. And as he showed up, he was detained and eventually transferred to Butler Couny Jail," said Kragt, who co-leads a congregation of West Charleston Church of the Brethren in Tipp City.
Captain Kevin Grathwohl at the Butler County Jail said Rodriguez is being held for ICE. Grathwohl referred other questions about to ICE.
WYSO also reached out to ICE, but did not get a response prior to the airing of this story.
According to Kragt, Rodriguez is from Honduras. Several years ago, he came to the U.S. without a visa to escape the violence.
"The (Honduran) cartels or gangs have a lot more firepower than the police, and you might not reasonably be able to expect that your government can protect you," Kragt said. "Armando and his family were very rapidly aware of the murder of several neighbors as they left, as a precipitating factor of leaving their home country and choosing to come here."
Kragt said his parishioner notified officials of his presence in the U.S. He eventually applied for asylum, beginning a lengthy legal process.
Rodriguez’s wife, Kenya, and their 8-year-old son are also from Honduras. Kenya has a work permit and also is seeking asylum for her and their son. The couple also has a 3-year-old daughter who was born in the U.S.
Rodriguez is a barber and the family’s main financial provider. For several years, they’ve called Dayton home.
Late Monday, Rodriguez called from the jail alerting his family of his arrest. According to Kenya, their son is struggling with his father’s absence. Kragt translated for Kenya, who doesn't speak English.
"So the eight-year-old especially was very sad. Some moments he's playing around the house like you'd expect an eight-year-old to be doing. And then he hears dad's voice on the phone making a call saying he can't come home and he's very sad, just 'te quiero Papi, te quiero.' 'I love you dad, I love you,'" translated Kragt.
"Also, the eight-year-old has experienced bullying on a bus, and his dad would drop him off at school. He'd come home on a different bus," Kragt said. "Now he either has to wake up significantly earlier to ride the bus, or mom's got to figure out how to drop him in the midst of her schedule. He just wants dad to come home."
Kenya said she’s scared, angry, frustrated, sad and overwhelmed. For a moment, her tone lightens as she affectionately describes Rodriguez.
"He's just a good guy, he loves his kids, shows so much love for the kids. He’s been a good support for me," Kenya said through Kragt's translation. "I’ve been through some mental health struggles with my extended family and he's always been there."
Then Kragt shared his own experience as Rodriguez's pastor.
"Armando is genuinely one of the friendliest folks in our congregation. He'll pull out his phone and pick up conversation with someone that he knows can't speak Spanish. He'll just be using his translation app trying to talk with someone who speaks English because he's just friendly he wants to connect with everyone," described Kragt.
"My first strong memory of Armando was the second time they ever came to our church," Kragt recalled. "He was the first one in the kitchen helping me do dishes after a meal. That's demonstrative of who Armando is. He's happy to dive into relationships and in community and to share."
According to Kragt, Rodriguez had consistently complied with all immigration monitoring, including app check-ins, home visits and going to the ICE office in Blue Ash, Kentucky.
Since early this year, Rodriguez has worn an ankle monitoring device. Kragt believed ICE enticed Rodriguez to come into the Blue Ash office with the promise of removing it. But Kraft was suspicious when no one gave Rodriguez a specific appointment time, which was the past practice.
"The guy on the phone said, 'come in as early as possible. Come in right at eight, come in early so there's no line.' As if you're gonna get back out and get back to the rest of your day," Kragt said. "They knew that they were going to detain him. But they try to play it off like there's no danger so that someone will still do what he's being told to do."
Kragt said he now regrets taking Rodriguez to Monday’s meeting.
"I drove him down to the appointment and then he was detained," he said. "I stood outside for a long time, not wanting to think that that was gonna be the outcome of the appointment and then even when that became clear, kicking myself that I had driven him there. There's part where it usually hasn't stuck in yet, but there's also a feeling like, yeah, we knew this was possible."
He said he feels guilty.
"I had advised him to get something in writing. They should be able to communicate with you through that app. I didn't want to tell him to not comply with what you've been ordered to do," he said. "I drove him and there he goes. So that is hard. And he made the choice that he thought was the right thing to do at the time. And now we'll walk with the family through the right things that we can do at this time next.
Monday evening, members of the West Charleston Church of the Brethren protested outside of the Butler County Jail, demanding Rodriguez’s release.
Meanwhile, Kragt says it’s hard to accept his friend’s detainment during Holy Week.
"Ultimately, I think he was arrested because we do not yet see Christ's suffering in the suffering of our good neighbors around us, newcomers to our communities, despite everything Jesus taught us about what we've done to the lost and least we've done to him," Kragt said.
He urged, "Counter the false narratives about immigrants when you hear them. The Holy Family fled to Egypt and I doubt they had their paperwork all in order when they arrived at that border. I think if they tried to come to our country, they'd be on a deportation list too."
The family is seeking legal guidance, while also reaching out to the Butler County Sheriff and to ICE for more information.
The family's greatest fear is that Rodriguez will be deported, and they will never see him again.
