Conservative writer Samuel Sey, who backed strict immigration enforcement, faces deportation after ICE arrest at Ohio airport

A 39-year-old Christian writer from Ghana is now set to leave the United States after ICE agents detained him at an Ohio airport, according to The Mirror. Samuel Sey was taken into custody at Columbus International Airport while he was traveling inside the country. Officials said he had stayed past the end of his visa and that he has agreed to a voluntary departure.

Sey built a sizable audience online with his blog Slow to Write and has written regularly for The Daily Wire and Turning Point USA. He has long argued in favor of tougher border rules and more deportations. He first came to the United States in 2022 and later married in Ohio.

He has told his readers that he never obtained permanent residency or permission to work legally. Without a green card, he often turned to his followers for donations so he could keep writing.

Sey’s public defense of deportations and the response to his detention

In his published work, Sey has said that removing people who are not authorized to be in the country fits with Christian teaching. He wrote that “Christian ethics do not denounce deportations. They demand it.” He is not the only pro-Trump personality to be arrested by ICE. 

Sey has also taken a hard line against people who protest ICE actions. Sey has described those who push back against immigration enforcement as doing the work of the devil.

Some of his supporters and fellow writers have pushed back against the arrest. They have said the detention grew out of a paperwork mistake or a mix-up in his immigration records.

The Department of Homeland Security has stated that Sey does not have any immigration applications currently pending. He is being held at the Butler County Jail in Hamilton, Ohio. He will stay in federal custody until his travel plans out of the country are finalized.

Former Babylon Bee managing editor Joel Berry launched a GiveSendGo campaign for Sey that had collected more than $24,000 as of Monday. The campaign’s statement said Sey “was detained by ICE while traveling.” It added that his family was seeking his release on bail so he could address any clerical issues related to his legal residence.

The statement continued: “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.”