Pregnant wife pleads for husband’s release as ICE holds LA pastor weeks before baby’s birth

Pastor detained week's before son's birth

ICE agents detained Gennadiy Glushchuk, a Christian pastor whose wife is expected to give birth to their third child, in downtown Los Angeles. Glushchuk is not a U.S. citizen, but Ukraine, where he was born, refuses to take him back.

LOS ANGELES - A pregnant woman is making a heartfelt plea to bring her husband home before the birth of their baby.

Gennadiy Glushchuk, a Christian pastor in Los Angeles, was detained two weeks ago by ICE agents in downtown during a routine immigration check-in.

Gennadiy was born in the former Soviet Union and is not a US Citizen. He moved to the US in 1995 at the age of 10 and grew up in the Hollywood area with his mom. 

Gennadiy is a local pastor, husband, and father of two, with a third on the way. But he has a past… he spent 13 years in prison, including a punishment for armed robbery.

Since 2009, he's been on supervised visits and every year he has been allowed to stay, except for this year. Federal agents are currently holding him in El Paso, Texas. 

He lost his green card after a run in with the law. He has been living under supervised release for over 15 years. He was allowed to stay because Ukraine wouldn't take him back.

But his wife, Yekaterina, says he is a reformed man. She said he's being detained with "no clear explanation or resolution in sight."

"They just said he has to stay and they had to detain him," Yekaterina said.

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She hopes immigration will show mercy on her husband and allow him to go home on monitored visits. She said he's a changed man. 

"My husband and I, we understand that this is just a consequence of his past. When he was making those bad choices in his past, he wasn't who he is today. I'm due with his baby in two weeks. I'm just hoping that I won't need to leave the house so that I can bring this baby home, whether he's with me or not," she emotionally told FOX 11.  

His wife tells us they're running out of time, and she just wants her husband home for the birth of their son.

A GoFundMe account has been created to help the family with expenses. 

The other side:

The Department of Homeland Security has issued the following statement in response:

"On June 14, 2025, ICE detained Gennadiy Glushchuk, a criminal illegal alien from Ukraine. Glushchuk’s long list of crimes includes battery, robbery, possession and sale of narcotics, driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol, identity theft, and reckless driving. President Trump and Secretary Noem have been clear: criminal illegal aliens are not welcome in the U.S. If you come to our country and break our laws, we will find you, arrest you, and deport you. That’s a promise."

ICE says LA pastor has a long criminal history

A pregnant woman is pleading for help after her husband was detained by ICE just weeks before she is due to give birth. But ICE issued a statement saying Gennadiy Glushchuk has a long list of crimes he's committed in the past.