It was nearly midnight by the time the services had ended, and everyone was ready for the long drive home.

The members of Iglesia Buen Pastor, a Christian church with roots in Mexico, were headed back to Raleigh from Houston, and they wanted to get a jump on the 19-hour trip. They had been there to congregate with a family of “sister” churches in order to celebrate the holiest day of their year — an anniversary of the Last Supper.

The Raleigh congregation had made similar trips before, but this one, back in April 2010, did not end with a familiar euphoria. Instead, it concluded with many of its members being locked in the back of police vans.

The church had rented several white passenger vans for the trip in order to accommodate a majority of its members, a group of young men and families with small children — about 70 people in all. While driving through Louisiana, their vans were stopped by Border Patrol, who, said church members, had suspected were coming from Mexico illegally.

Border Patrol locked up the men, women and children separately in police vans. Thirty members of the church were ultimately arrested for alleged immigration violations, and six were deported immediately. The remaining members were temporarily released after signing paperwork they say they did not understand.

Mixael Cortez, along with his wife and teenage daughter, were arrested that night and are currently involved in a on-going court battle to stay in the United States. They are expected in court in June and have been receiving support in the form of legal services and a letter-writing campaign from the Southern Coalition for Social Justice.

Most recently, Mixael, his family, and the rest of the church traveled in April to Indianapolis to again gather with their other congregations for the same holiday. Only this time, Misael says, he and other church members struggle to “overcome the sadness” of the previous year.

This video documents the church’s most recent trip to Indianapolis last month, and tells the story of what happened the previous year.

This story was produced as part of the J582 Multimedia Narratives Course at UNC’s School of Journalism and Mass Communication.