Immigration

DHS says detained Ohio blogger Samuel Sey will be deported; supporters call it a clerical error

Washington, D.C. • October 26, 2026 • By Press Pass USA

Editorial illustration: a federal detention facility corridor

Editorial illustration — Press Pass USA

The Department of Homeland Security says Samuel Sey, the Ghanaian-Canadian Christian blogger arrested at Columbus International Airport on October 21, will be deported, rejecting his supporters' account that a paperwork mistake is behind his detention.

In a statement to Religion News Service, a DHS spokesperson said Sey “has no pending applications and accepted voluntary departure,” and that he “will remain in ICE custody until removed from the United States.” The department said Sey, 39, who was born in Ghana and grew up in Canada, entered the United States in 2022 but overstayed his length of admission by more than four years. “We do not pick and choose which laws to enforce or where to enforce them,” the spokesperson said.

Sey lives in Ohio and is being held at the Butler County Jail in Hamilton, Ohio, Religion News Service reported. His arrest drew wide attention in part because Sey had publicly supported strict immigration enforcement; in January he wrote on X, “If you love America you should support ICE.”

His supporters have maintained that the arrest stems from a clerical error they are working to resolve. Conservative commentators Allie Beth Stuckey and Megan Basham and podcaster Joel Berry, who set up a GiveSendGo page for Sey's family, have publicly backed him. The fundraising page, which says Sey's wife is working to get him released on bail so clerical issues can be addressed, had raised more than $22,000, Religion News Service reported. Stuckey wrote that Sey's wife, at home with their three babies, was “devastated and also trusting the Lord to help them find a resolution quickly.”

Sey's case is distinct from his earlier detention coverage: the arrest itself was reported last week, but the department's position — that he will be removed rather than released while a paperwork issue is fixed — was only stated publicly on Sunday. Whether Sey's representatives can still challenge the removal or reopen the case was not addressed in the department's statement.

Sources: Religion News Service (Oct 25, 2026); MinistryWatch (Oct 26, 2026); Department of Homeland Security statement via Religion News Service.