One of my friends responded by telling me a story about her former seminary student from Cuba, Juan Manuel Arias Perea. Juan Manuel went on to serve as a pastor, first in New Jersey and now at Immanuel United Church of Christ in Bartlett, Illinois. After being held in an ICE detention center, he was deported to Mexico, where he knew no one. According to Pastor Juan Manuel, “My cousin Lorenzo was killed on Jan. 4, 2026, by a group of gang members in Villahermosa, Mexico, who shot him in the head in order to steal his cellphone.” Since then, Pastor Juan Manuel and Lorenzo’s family have been dealing with Mexican and Cuban authorities to make arrangements for the return of Lorenzo’s remains for proper burial.