Outcry as ICE Detains Texas Episcopal Priest with Valid Work Permit

A Texas Episcopal priest who was legally employed by the state has been detained by federal immigration authorities under unclear circumstances, sparking outrage and calls for his release from faith leaders across the state.

The Rev. James Eliud Ngahu Mwangi, a Kenyan immigrant and priest in the Episcopal Diocese of Texas, was taken into custody by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on October 25 while returning from his job with the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. He is currently being held at an ICE detention facility in Conroe, north of Houston.

In a statement, Bishop C. Andrew Doyle of the Episcopal Diocese of Texas said the detention was deeply troubling and demanded clarity from federal authorities.

“The Episcopal Diocese of Texas stands firmly for justice, dignity, and compassion for every person,” Doyle said. “This priest has served both the church and the state of Texas faithfully. We are praying for his safety, for his family’s peace of mind, and for fair and humane treatment as this case moves forward.”

Doyle told Religion News Service, which first reported the story, that Mwangi had a valid work permit, making his detention all the more puzzling. “We simply don’t understand why this happened,” he said, adding that the diocese is urging elected officials to intervene.

A spokesperson for the ICE Houston field office did not immediately respond to multiple requests for comment.

Faith leaders across Texas have mobilized in support of Mwangi. The Rev. Blake Rider, rector of St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church in Huntsville—where Mwangi is a member—said the priest had recently been helping launch a new Swahili-language congregation serving East African immigrants.

“It’s not necessarily because he’s a priest,” Rider said. “Frankly, he’s just a human being like any other detainee. It happens that he is in the United States perfectly legally, and so he needs to be released out of detention.”

Other congregations have joined in public advocacy. St. Christopher’s Episcopal Church in Austin posted a call for parishioners to contact members of Congress and demand Mwangi’s release. Meanwhile, the Rev. Joanna DeHaan Unangst, associate rector at Trinity Episcopal Church in The Woodlands, shared a calling script for supporters to use when contacting lawmakers.

“Friends, this is happening right here, right now, in our proverbial front yard,” Unangst wrote. “This person is a priest—my colleague—in this clericus of our diocese.”

The diocese has called on state and federal officials to investigate why a legally employed state worker with valid immigration documents was detained in the first place.

So far, neither ICE nor the Department of Homeland Security has provided an explanation for Mwangi’s arrest.