Pastor Wulfrano Portillo, a longtime local pastor who has lived in the United States since 1992, has been deported to Mexico after being detained during a scheduled immigration check in Oklahoma City. His daughter, Tania Portillo, said the deportation happened days after that appointment, leaving his family and church community in shock.
Wulfrano Portillo spent about 34 years in the United States, where he preached at Iglesia Cristiana La Hermosa in Tulsa. The church is now not only missing their dear pastor but also a pillar to their community.
Federal court records show Portillo Castro is a native and citizen of Mexico who entered the United States in 1992 and was placed in removal proceedings in 2007. The records show he sought cancellation of removal, but an immigration judge denied relief, the Board of Immigration Appeals upheld that decision, and the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals denied his petition for review in 2013.
Portillo is now in Mexico and his family is devastated. The man they loved, leaned on and came home to is now gone. Imagine your husband or father being taken away from everything he built, from the people he cared for and from the community he served for decades. Imagine the silence left behind in that home, the grief of a family forced to keep living with an empty space where he should still be.
His congregation is now missing the man they relied on for guidance, refuge and leadership in a world that becomes harder and harder to understand.
For years, Portillo continued reporting to scheduled immigration check ins while fighting to remain in the country he had called home for decades. He was doing what he was supposed to. He was trying to stay in America the “right way”. Was this fair to him? Was this fair to his family or to his community?
