ELIZABETH -- The last of the four Indonesian Christian men detained by immigration officials was deported this week after living in the U.S. for 17 years.

Oldy Manopo joined Saul Timisela, Rovani Wangko and Arino Massie, who were all deported in the last three weeks. The men are ethnic Chinese Christians and said they fled Indonesia after they were persecuted for their faith.

Manopo leaves behind three U.S. citizen grandchildren and two kids who are protected from deportation under President Obama's deferred action program, his supporters said.

"Here's a guy who was involved in a daily basis in the lives of his three grandchildren and two kids," said Rev. Seth Kaper-Dale of The Reformed Church of Highland Park, a community that has long-fought for Manopo to stay in the country. "These are real human lives that are being destroyed."

Activists blocked the road leading to the Elizabeth Detention Center on Monday, laying down on the street to block Manopo's removal. But shortly after the group left, Manopo was taken from the detention center to board a plane back to Indonesia, according to advocates.

U.S. law prohibits a person from returning to the country for 10 years if they've previously been ordered deported but did not comply with the order. Kaper-Dale said Manopo has no family or property in Indonesia and won't be able to return to his family until he's well into his 80s.

"To have this all happen, I've never seen such despair in our community," said Kaper-Dale, who is the Green Party candidate for governor. "It's incredibly devastating to us."

After the Sept. 11 attacks, foreigners from certain Muslim-majority countries, including Indonesia, were required to register with the government under a now-defunct program meant to prevent terrorist attacks. Manopo and the three other recently deported Indonesians complied and registered in 2002, their advocates said.

Their requests for asylum, however, were never heard because they missed the one-year deadline. All four -- and an additional group of Indonesian immigrants -- were ordered deported.

The group sought sanctuary inside The Reformed Church of Highland Park for 11 months until Kaper-Dale struck a deal with immigration officials to let the men -- who have no criminal records -- remain in the country so long as they periodically check in.

During the men's last check up with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in May, they were detained and over the next few weeks, deported.

President Trump has made anyone with a deportation order a priority for removal. Under his administration, immigration arrests have increased significantly.

U.S. Rep. Frank Pallone (D-N.J.), who denounced the men's detainment and deportation, recently re-introduced legislation that would allow Indonesian refugees to reopen their asylum cases if they missed the one-year filing deadline.

"We have 43 people who are going to have to check in over the next 10 months," Kaper-Dale said. "Every week is an excruciating decision over what do we do."

Karen Yi may be reached at kyi@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter at @karen_yi or on Facebook.