Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents on Monday detained four Indonesian men who were previously allowed to stay in the country under supervision.

The four Indonesian men — Oldy Manopo, Arino Massie, Saul Timisela, Rovani Wangko — who reported to ICE for their annual check-in meeting in March, were told to return in two months with their passports.

When they returned on Monday, agents detained the four and sent them to the Elizabeth Contract Detention Facility, said the Rev. Seth Kaper-Dale, pastor of the Reformed Church of Highland Park and immigrant rights advocate.

The ICE inmate database confirmed the four men are in custody in Elizabeth.

"My greatest concern is they will be sent away from their families here in America," Kaper-Dale said, noting that all of them had spouses or children in the U.S. "Never use the words 'family values' with me again, Republicans."

These men are among a group of nine Indonesian immigrants who claimed sanctuary at the Reformed Church of Highland Park in 2012 before ICE decided to give them a "stay of removal," or temporary permission to remain in the country so long as they abide by the law and check in with immigration agents.

Every year, they checked in with ICE and had their stayed renewed. Until now.

The detainment follows a shift in immigration policy as instructed by President Donald Trump in his Jan. 25 executive order giving immigration agents the power to detain and deport all unauthorized immigrants, not just those tied to violent or drug-related crimes.

ICE spokesman Luis Martinez said in a statement that any unauthorized immigrant is arrested and placed into deportation proceedings. It is up to an immigration judge to review any appeals and determine if an applicant can stay.

"Aliens who illegally enter the United States and those who overstay or otherwise violate the terms of their visas have violated our nation’s laws and can pose a threat to national security and public safety," he said.

Fleeing persecution

Manopo, Massie, Timisela and Wangko are ethnic Chinese Christians who fled religious persecution in Indonesia in the late 1990s. They left for the U.S. two decades ago on tourist visas, which they overstayed, Kaper-Dale said.

They drew attention from ICE after 9/11 when they signed up for the National Security Entry-Exit Registration System as required of temporary visa holders of several Muslim-majority nations, including Indonesia, even though they were Christians.

"By turning themselves in, they became low-hanging fruit for ICE," Kaper-Dale said.

They could have qualified for asylum, a form of protection immigrants can apply for after arriving in the United States. However, the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 required that all asylum applicants file their petitions within a year of entering the country.

All four applied for asylum after the deadline, Kaper-Dale said. Their petitions were denied.

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Living in the shadows

It's not the first time Indonesian immigrants in Central New Jersey were targeted by immigration authorities.

The night of May 24, 2006, ICE agents rounded up dozens of unauthorized immigrants within the Indonesian community in Middlesex County. Kaper-Dale and other church members pushed back as ICE deported or detained them.

In 2009, Kaper-Dale and other members worked throughout the year to help Indonesians get released from detention on orders of supervision, including one member who led a Bible study.

Under the supervision order, the immigrants in question could get work authorization, according to news reports at the time.

Church members took their concerns to Washington, helping draft a bill that allows Indonesians to reopen their asylum cases because many weren't aware of the 12-month deadline. Both the House and Senate versions were stalled in Congress.

The deportations resumed in 2012, at which point Kaper-Dale offered local Indonesians sanctuary. He turned the Sunday school classrooms into bedrooms and installed showers. Nine Indonesian men, including Manopo, Massie, Timisela and Wangko, took refuge in the church for 11 months, Kaper-Dale said.

Kaper-Dale met with immigration officials in Washington in February 2013, securing an order of supervision for the men.

"They were told they were not a threat," he said.

This year, they face the possibility of being deported to Indonesia at a time when anti-Christian violence remains prevalent

"There are real safety concerns," Kaper-Dale said. "These are people in the spotlight for their persecution ... Now they have to go back into that setting."

Steph Solis: 732-403-0074; ssolis@gannett.com