When Torben Søndergaard and his family fled religious persecution in Denmark in 2019, they thought they would find refuge in the United States. They never expected the treatment they would receive from the U.S. government.
Leaving Denmark with only their suitcases, Søndergaard continued his ministry, The Last Reformation, in America. Then last year, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials canceled Søndergaard’s visa waiver without his knowledge and arrested him. First, authorities told him it was for charges of gun smuggling. Then it was changed to overstaying his visa.
Treated Like a Dangerous Criminal
The Christian minister was incarcerated in the federal wing of the Baker County Jail in Macclenny, Florida, spending his first 10 days in solitary confinement. He told us he was forced to wear a red jumpsuit, which is used to identify high-risk and violent inmates, even though he has no criminal background.
After 412 days in jail, more than a year, Søndergaard was deported to Denmark, which he immediately left to reunite with his family in another, undisclosed nation.
Now, in his first media interview since being deported, Torben told CBN News how shocked he was to be imprisoned in America.
“I think the biggest thing was shock,” Søndergaard said. “I did not understand how this could happen in a country like America, where there’s so many Christians and churches and ministries.”
Søndergaard told us that inside the facility, he faced a level of hostility and intimidation from ICE officers that was different from the treatment of other detainees.
He said, “I had people come to me and say, ‘What is happening to you? What is happening here? They don’t treat anyone else like this.’ There was intimidation. I had some encounters with the ICE officers that were very unusual, and it was very frightening to be there. So, in that way, yeah, my case was different.”
At a House subcommittee hearing in July, the Chairman of the Border Security and Enforcement Subcommittee, Congressman Clay Higgins (R-LA), accused the Biden Administration of targeting and persecuting Søndergaard.
Søndergaard Believes Persecution Is Coming for All Believers
Søndergaard believes his experience is a warning to the church that persecution is coming.
“We think (persecution) is for the few extreme (Christians) out there. And we think we are safe if we just don’t do like them. And maybe it’s just a few now, but it’s a few now and then in a short time it will be the many. And in the future, it will be everyone who confesses Jesus as Lord.”
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Reprinted with permission from cbn.com. Copyright © 2023 The Christian Broadcasting Network Inc. All rights reserved.
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