Panamanian national Aquilino Sanjur Ortega was arrested by the Fort Walton Beach Police Department on Sunday after authorities say he hid in the ceiling of a women's restroom at Grace Church and recorded video with his mobile phone while parishioners attended a religious service.
According to police, one woman told officers she observed "a mobile phone positioned above the ceiling with its camera pointed downward in her direction" while inside the women's restroom. She immediately left and informed church staff, who alerted authorities. Parishioners evacuated before officers arrived on scene. Witnesses reported seeing a man concealed in the women's bathroom ceiling, which police confirmed after entering the building.
Ortega, who was unarmed at the time of arrest, is charged with video voyeurism and disturbing a religious assembly. He is being held on $250,000 bond.
Federal law enforcement sources told The Daily Wire that Ortega entered the United States in March 2007 using a tourism visa that expired that September. Because he overstayed his visa by nearly two decades, immigration authorities classify him as having no legal status.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement has lodged a detainer with the Okaloosa County Jail, meaning local officials are expected to transfer Ortega to federal custody for potential deportation proceedings once state charges are resolved.
What the Right Is Saying
Conservative commentators and Republican officials pointed to the arrest as evidence supporting stricter immigration enforcement measures. "This is exactly why we need robust border security and interior enforcement," said Representative Mark Green of Tennessee, chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee.
The Department of Homeland Security provided a statement emphasizing its stance on criminal illegal immigrants. "Under President Trump and Secretary Mullin, criminal illegal aliens are not welcome in the U.S.," DHS stated. The department noted that upon Trump's return to office, protections preventing ICE from entering churches, schools, and hospitals were rescinded.
Border czar Tom Homan has previously addressed ICE operations involving religious institutions. "Those locations are not off the table," Homan said during immigration enforcement announcements in Minneapolis in February. "There's no sanctuary for a significant public safety threat or a national security threat."
House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan of Ohio called for coordination between local and federal authorities. "When someone is in this country illegally and commits crimes, they should face both state charges and removal proceedings," Jordan stated.
What the Left Is Saying
Progressive advocacy groups said the incident highlights the need for comprehensive immigration reform rather than enforcement-only approaches. "When someone slips through the system for nearly 20 years without support or pathways to legal status, it creates conditions where vulnerable people can fall through the cracks," said a spokesperson for the American Immigration Law Foundation in a statement.
Some Democratic lawmakers noted that the case involves distinct crimes that should be prosecuted on their own terms regardless of immigration status. "Video voyeurism and disturbing religious assembly are serious offenses that carry appropriate penalties under existing law," Senator Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut wrote on social media platform X. "Our focus should be on holding this individual accountable for these specific acts."
Immigration rights organizations also raised concerns about the broader implications of removing so-called sensitive location protections for churches, schools, and hospitals. "House of worship have historically served as sanctuaries for all people, regardless of status," said Ana Garcia of the National Immigration Law Center. "This policy change creates fear in communities who may now avoid seeking help from religious institutions."
What the Numbers Show
According to DHS data on visa overstays, the government estimates that approximately 1 in 5 undocumented immigrants in the United States entered legally but overstayed their visas rather than crossing the border without inspection. The agency reported a net increase in overstay rates of roughly 2% between fiscal years 2023 and 2024.
Ortega faces a $250,000 bond for his current charges. Video voyeurism under Florida law is classified as a second-degree misdemeanor carrying penalties of up to 60 days in jail for first offenses. Disturbing a religious assembly is typically charged as a first-degree misdemeanor, punishable by up to one year incarceration.
ICE has placed an immigration detainer on Ortega, which means if local authorities release him on bond or after serving time, he would be transferred to federal custody for deportation proceedings. Federal records indicate that visa overstay cases typically take 12 to 18 months to resolve through immigration courts under current case backlogs exceeding 3.6 million pending cases.
The Bottom Line
The arrest of a Panamanian national who allegedly recorded women in a church bathroom has renewed attention on both criminal enforcement and immigration policy debates. Ortega faces state charges for video voyeurism while also subject to federal immigration detention as an overstay case.
The incident occurs amid the Trump administration's rollback of sensitive location policies that previously restricted ICE operations at churches, schools, and hospitals. DHS officials have stated that these restrictions were removed specifically to enable arrests of individuals with criminal histories or public safety concerns regardless of where they attempt to shelter.
Next steps include Ortega's prosecution on state charges in Okaloosa County, followed by potential transfer to federal immigration custody for removal proceedings. Immigration courts will determine whether he has any legal grounds to remain in the United States. Observers will watch how local-federal coordination plays out in similar cases going forward.