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Oliver-Bruno was taken to the ICE office in Cary, North Carolina, the advocacy group said, adding that the detainment has placed his life in danger.

\"If deported, Samuel fears for his life,\" Alerta Migratoria said in a statement. \"If deported, Samuel will be returned to the state of Veracruz, where his family has recently faced threats and which is a state that is constantly in threat of drug cartels. If deported, ICE will be delivering Samuel to danger and death. Furthermore, ICE is not allowing us to give Samuel his diabetic pills or insulin medication, which is further putting his life in danger.\"

Oliver-Bruno appeared in a video on Alerta Migratoria's Facebook page Wednesday, asking for support in Spanish for when he entered the \"wolf cave.\"

In May 2014, Oliver Bruno was arrested by U.S. Border Patrol agents in El Paso, Texas, \"while attempting to enter the U.S. using fraudulent documents,\" Cox said. He was then paroled \"solely for federal criminal prosecution\" and was convicted in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas later that month, Cox said.

Oliver-Bruno was released from ICE custody in June 2016, and his case has since \"been subject to extensive appeals,\" Cox said, adding that officials \"ultimately concluded Mr. Oliver Bruno has no legal basis to remain in the U.S.,\" Cox said.

USCIS had requested that Oliver-Bruno provide fingerprints in person, a requirement for his deferred deportation petition, The News and Observer reported. He moved from his home in Greenville to the church last year after ICE notified him that it would no longer practice discretion for his removal, the local newspaper reported. ICE does not typically make arrests at churches, schools or hospitals.

Oliver-Bruno left Mexico in 1994, and his wife came to the U.S. two years later on a work permit, The News and Observer reported. It is unclear when and why he initially left the U.S., but his attempt to cross the border again in 2014 was to be with his wife, who was undergoing open heart surgery in the U.S., according to the newspaper.

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