He was detained for 16 days before a federal judge ordered his release, ruling that ICE "contravened its own regulations ... by failing to provide a meaningful, individualized basis for his re-detention" in time. Tendo was also detained by ICE in 2023. "Once you are detained by ICE, you cease to be a human being," he said.
"You become subhuman; you become an object. You become a file that is added onto their numbers." Tendo is among at least 65 pastors, priests, imams, chaplains, rabbis, monks, deacons, and other religious figures detained by U.S. immigration authorities since January 2025—the month President Donald Trump returned to the White House and swiftly expanded immigration enforcement—according to Newsweek analysis of court filings, news reports, and public records. At least 30 have been released from immigration custody, 18 were deported, and 14 remain detained.
Another, Fouad Saeed Abdulkadir, a 46-year-old green card holding imam from Eritrea, died in custody in Philipsburg, Pennsylvania, in December 2025. Newsweek requested immigration and criminal histories for all 65 people identified. The Trump administration provided information on 42, identifying 14 as having prior criminal arrests or convictions.
Their immigration histories were also varied. The cases include people with removal orders, alleged visa overstays, asylum seekers, lawful permanent residents, and people whose cases involved work authorization, Temporary Protected Status, withholding of removal, Convention Against Torture protections, advance parole, or orders of supervision. They were often detained during routine immigration appointments, traffic stops, or other encounters with law enforcement.
Newsweek found cases of 51 Christians leaders—from Catholic, Anglican, Baptist, Presbyterian and Seventh-day Adventists denominations—10 Muslims, three Buddhists, and two Jews detained by ICE since January 2025. Rabbi Sarah Bassin of nonprofit HIAS, which supports Jewish refugees and immigrants, told Newsweek, "It is not that faith leaders are more worthy of our attention and our outrage at their detention. But their detention should be clarifying for those who may doubt the profound moral breach of the Trump administration's immigration policies." Muslim civil rights group the Council on American-Islamic Relations wants a congressional investigation into the detentions.
The group’s national deputy director, Edward Ahmed Mitchell, told Newsweek the U.S. "Congress must investigate any discriminatory motive behind these detentions, and work to pass the NO Ban Act to ensure racial and religious discrimination play no role in our immigration policy." A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) told Newsweek, "What makes someone a target for immigration enforcement is whether or not they are illegally in the U.S.— full stop." The Trump administration has clamped down on illegal crossings at the southern border and launched a widespread mass deportation operation across the country, while tightening legal immigration. The administration has also moved to ease visa requirements for migrant religious workers in the U.S. on an R-1 visa In January 2026, USCIS scrapped a requirement that those who reach the R-1 visa's five-year maximum must remain outside the U.S. for a full year before seeking R-1 status again, although they must still leave the country.
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