Pastor Threatens To Report Woman to ICE Over Parking Space

By Alia Shoaib

News Reporter

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A video posted on Reddit appears to show a pastor in San Diego threatening to call Immigration and Customs Enforcement on a Hispanic woman during a dispute over a parking spot.

Newsweek called the New Shiloh Missionary Baptist Church on Tuesday, outside of regular working hours, but the call went unanswered.

Why It Matters

The video comes amid heightened tensions over immigration enforcement in the U.S., where increased ICE activity has created fear and uncertainty in immigrant communities. Encounters with the agency can carry serious consequences for individuals, regardless of their legal status.

What To Know

It is not clear where the video was originally shared, but it appears to be filmed by the woman involved in a dispute with the pastor.

It was posted in a subreddit “ICE Raids,” in which users share information about incidents with immigration officers, by a user who appears to be uninvolved in the incident.

The video, which is filmed outside the New Shiloh Missionary Baptist Church in San Diego on November 30, shows a woman behind the camera arguing with a man in a suit, described as the pastor.

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The short video shows the pair arguing as they stand next to a car parked on the road.

The man identified as the pastor tells another man with him: “She may have paid for it– let ICE, call ICE on them.”

“Call ICE?” the woman responds. “Ok, call ICE, I have papers.”

Text over the video claims the pastor came out of the church to complain that they were blocking the road.

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The church was flooded with one star reviews on Yelp following the incident, with people sharing screenshots from the video and criticizing the pastor.

What People Are Saying

One Yelp user wrote: “It is truly disheartening to witness a grown man--especially one preaching and attempting to spread the Word of God and His love--handle a stressful situation by threatening another human being with deportation.”

Another added: “I was deeply disturbed after watching a video involving a church leader associated with this organization, where an individual appeared to be threatened with having immigration authorities called on them. Seeing behavior like this was shocking and completely inconsistent with the compassion, moral leadership, and safety that a church should represent.”