DHS moves to expedite deportation of York pastor, Haitian immigrant
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Jordan Wilkie/WITF
Jordan Wilkie / WITF News
Omara Nunez joined We Are CASA immigration advocates at their York offices to call for her husband’s release from immigration detention on Sept. 14, 2026.
Correction: This story was updated to correctly attribute the first quote to Jossie Flor Sapunar of We Are CASA, not Ama Frimpong, who is with the same organization. Both were on the call mentioned in the story.
Molis Augustave’s name went missing from Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s detainee locator tool early Wednesday morning.
When that happens, it usually means a person has been released, or deported. Augustave, a York pastor, has not returned home.
Instead, he seems scheduled for deportation to Haiti. Augustave called his wife on Wednesday and told her ICE agents said he would be flown out of the country on Thursday. His wife, Omara Nunez, a U.S. citizen living in York County, then called the group advocating for Augustave to stay in the country.
“He is being hustled off without any due process onto a flight to return to a country where his life is in danger,” said Jossie Flor Sapunar during an emergency news teleconference Wednesday afternoon. Flor Sapunar is the national communications director for the immigrants’ rights group We Are CASA and is also coordinating Augustave’s immigration defense.
We Are CASA and other advocates are pursuing several legal and political efforts to keep Augustave in the country. Several news outlets are already covering Augustave’s case, and We Are CASA used Wednesday’s teleconference to spur another round of coverage.
Augustave was detained on Sept. 4 after West Manchester Township police in York County pulled him over for a broken headlight. The police department recently entered into a partnership with ICE, allowing their officers the ability to check immigration status. During the stop, the officer called ICE, which sent agents to detain Augustave.
The group is asking Gov. Josh Shaprio and Sen. John Fetterman, both Democrats, to contact to U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Markwayne Mullin. A team of lawyers also filed a petition called a habeas corpus in Louisiana federal courts, arguing for Augustave’s release. They also made an appeal to the Board of Immigration Appeals to reopen his case and cancel the removal order.
“If we have to get to a point where he is pulled off of the plane because of a judge’s order, that is what we are going to continue fighting for,” Flor Sapunar said.
Neither the governor’s nor Fetterman’s offices were immediately available to respond to this story.
DHS also did not respond to questions by the time of publication, including inquiries about where Augustave is or confirming the status of his deportation flight.
In a previous statement, DHS said Augustave was in the country illegally.
“He will remain in ICE custody pending removal,” an unidentified ICE spokesperson wrote to WITF on Monday.
Augustave has no criminal history. He came to the country legally through a port of entry in 2016, according to Ama Frimpong, We Are CASA’s lead lawyer and the coordinator for Augustave’s immigration defense. He was allowed in and given immigration parole as he applied for asylum.
An immigration judge denied Augustave’s asylum claim and ordered him removed in 2018, but that order was stayed because he also applied for protection from deportation back to a dangerous country through a program called Temporary Protected Status.
President Barack Obama granted Haitians TPS protections from deportation in 2010 after a major earthquake devastated the country and destabilized an already shaky government. That protection stayed in place until July 27 of this year, when President Donald Trump’s administration won legal battled and declared Haiti a safe place for immigration removals.
For Augustave and the roughly 15,000 Haitians in Pennsylvania, protection from deportation disappeared overnight along with their ability to work legally in the country.
“Understanding the realities in Haiti right now, a country that is plagued by armed groups, political turmoil, when we have 1.4 million internally displaced people, we are at a verge of a famine, and I have to clarify that a lot of those destabilizations in Haiti are partly due to U.S. foreign policies,” said Guerline Jozef, the founder and leader of Haitian Bridge Alliance, an immigration advocacy group. A June report from United Nations and information from the World Food Programme confirm Jozef’s statements.
Augustave moved to York six years ago. When he met Nunez, their first date was at bible study, she said during a prior news conference on Monday. Together, they have two children, 9 and 2 years old.
Before the Trump administration ended TPS, Augustave began the process of becoming a lawful permanent resident. In August 2024, he filed a petition called an I-130, which was approved, Frimpong said. That allowed Augustave to apply for a green card, which he did in March of this year. His application is still pending.
If granted, the green card would grant him lawful permanent residency and would be the first major step toward citizenship.
“There should be no rush to deport him at this moment. Allow the legal processes to play out,” Flor Sapunar said during the Wednesday news conference.
Advocates are also trying to use Augustave’s faith as a Christian as reason he should be kept in the United States, alongside numerous statements this week about his good character and positive impact on the community.
Monday, Olga Galati, Pennsylvania deputy director for We Are CASA, called Trump a godly man and asked him to consider whether deporting Augustave was the Christian thing to do.
Wednesday, Jozef made a call to all Christians in the country.
“We need the Christian church to step up and support Pastor Molis right now,” Jozef said. “We are calling on Christian believers around the country to reach out to the administration to ask and urge them to protect and bring Pastor Molis back to his family.”
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