Christian blogger Samuel Sey jailed on ICE hold, set to be deported
Conservative Christian commentator and writer Samuel Sey is set to be deported after authorities say he overstayed his visa.
Sey, 39, was arrested Oct. 21 at the Columbus International Airport in Ohio, according to a U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) spokesperson. He remained jailed Monday in the Butler County Jail, according to booking records.
Sey, who was born in Ghana before immigrating to Canada as a child, is being held on an active U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) hold.
A DHS spokesperson told The Christian Post via email that ICE arrested Sey — "an illegal alien from Ghana" — last Wednesday.
"Sey entered the United States legally in 2022 but overstayed his length of admission by over four years, in violation of our nation's laws. Sey has no pending applications and accepted voluntary departure. He will remain in ICE custody until removed from the United States."
The DHS spokesperson added, "We do not pick and choose which laws to enforce or where to enforce them."
According to the agency, the U.S. government is "offering illegal aliens $3,000 and a free flight to self-deport now."
"We encourage every person here illegally to take advantage of this offer and reserve the chance to come back to the U.S. the right legal way to live the American dream," the spokesperson said. "If not, you will be arrested and deported without a chance to return."
While DHS confirmed Sey's removal is a "voluntary departure," it wasn't clear that included the $3,000 offer to self-deport.
A GiveSendGo campaign for Sey launched by former Babylon Bee managing editor Joel Berry raised more than $24,000 as of Monday. A statement on the crowdfunding site said Sey "was detained by ICE while traveling" and that the family is "working to get him released on bail so he can fix any clerical issues that need to be addressed for his legal residence."
The statement added: "We are raising money to help his wife and children with expenses while he's out of work, as well as any legal fees they incur. Samuel is a good man and a brother in Christ, and his ministry at SlowToWrite has been a blessing to many."
A former resident of Brampton, a city located just outside of Toronto, Canada, Sey lived in Ohio until his arrest, according to his website.
Sey, a prolific Christian blogger and commentator published by Evangelical outlets, previously voiced support for deporting illegal immigrants in the past.
In a Feb. 2025 post headlined, "It's not Un-Christian to Deport Illegal Immigrants," Sey took exception to some Christians who have argued against deporting people who are in the U.S. illegally.
He praised the Trump administration's focus on immigration last year, noting that deportations were far from reaching historic levels at the time. Sey also took aim at what he billed as "anti-Trump Christians," writing: "If they care about deportations, why didn't they complain on social media just weeks ago in December when [former President Joe] Biden was deporting illegal immigrants?"
"The majority of people who are complaining about the deportations are not principled people defending Christian virtue. They are insincere people using Jesus' name in vain to attack Trump," he added.
In that same post, Sey shared that he was "in the middle of the immigration process" himself and while he expected the process to "be finished soon," he acknowledged deportation as a potential outcome. He described himself as a "legal resident."
"Immigration isn't a right; it's a privilege. It's a privilege that illegal immigrants think they are entitled to. But America doesn't owe anything to people born outside of the country — including me," he wrote. "However, if America changes the standards and ends my residency, it would be inconvenient — not unjust."
Ian M. Giatti is a reporter for The Christian Post. He can be reached at: ian.giatti@christianpost.com.
