Michel Tshimankinda was arrested by ICE last week. He's now being held at Strafford County jail in Dover, New Hampshire.
Tshimankinda is a pastor at his own church. But he has also been a regular presence in the pews at Life Church Maine in Gorham, according to assistant pastor Tom Pequinot, who said he has watched Tshimankinda build a life in Maine.
"[He] started to work at a couple different jobs. And also started to plug into the church and get to know people, and serve people, help people," Pequinot said. "It was a real blessing to have him here."
Pequinot said Tshimankinda called him last Wednesday to say ICE agents were following him home from work.
"He was a little nervous, but we talked a little, talked it through, prayed, and he felt better after we talked," Pequinot said.
In a written statement, an ICE spokesperson said Tshimankinda entered the U.S. in 2016 overstayed a tourist visa and was arrested while ICE agents conducted "targeted enforcement operations" in Portland.
A fundraiser to help cover his legal fees and basic needs for his family had raised over $23,000 as of Wednesday afternoon.
