A Liberian-born pastor living in North Carolina who suffered a stroke while in the custody of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement last month has left immigration detention and is headed to a rehabilitation hospital offering round-the-clock care. Word of Gabriel Johnson's release came in a family statement posted to Instagram. His daughter, Gabri Johnson, wrote that the ordeal is not over, though he can now focus on healing and the recovery he needs.
"We are deeply grateful, and we are praying that his medical team can help him learn to walk again," the family statement reads. "There is still a long road ahead. My father's release does not erase what has happened or the challenges our family continues to face.
But it gives him the opportunity to focus on healing and begin the rehabilitation he so desperately needs." "Mountains were moved through prayer, persistence, and the extraordinary love extended in our direction." A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) previously told The Christian Post that agents picked Johnson up on July 15 as part of a targeted enforcement operation.
Officials first told the family the arrest traced to a missed immigration check-in, Gabri Johnson said. She said relatives later learned that authorities were instead moving to deport her father, a step she linked to a policy change at the federal level. Gabri Johnson has maintained that her father has held lawful status in the country since arriving at age 15, though he never pursued citizenship.
The DHS spokesperson said Johnson came to the country in late December 1987 on a visa good for six months and stayed on after it lapsed. Years later, in January 1991, a judge ordered him deported, and under that order, Johnson would remain in ICE custody while deportation proceedings moved forward.