West Valley City » When 14-year-old Uriel Leon kissed his dad goodbye Tuesday, he had no idea it could be the last for a long time.

Federal immigration agents arrested Uriel's father, Santos Leon, after the pastor and construction worker dropped off his son at school and was preparing to head to Salt Lake City's east side to build rock walls at big houses.

Leon, 36, is scheduled to be deported Thursday. He was one of a handful of undocumented Utahns that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement round up on most days. The sweeps are part of the "ICE Fugitive Operations Program," which enforces deportation orders issued by immigration judges.

ICE agents also had planned Tuesday to arrest Leon's wife, Bertha Leon. But she was released for now to care for their three children, who were born in the U.S. and are citizens.

Bertha, 34, said she was given a few weeks to take care of business, but she must report to immigration authorities March 1 for deportation to Mexico.

The couple founded and lead Ministerio Buenas Nuevas (Good News Ministry), 4670 W. 4100 South. Their congregation totals about 120 members, many of them immigrants.

California-based ICE spokeswoman Virginia Kice said the couple had been sent a letter asking them to report to immigration for deportation -- but the two never appeared. They have had deportation orders since 1999 and don't have any immigration appeals pending, she said.

"They failed to come forth and comply," Kice said.

Bertha said neither she nor Santos have ever been arrested or have had any traffic violations. When they moved to Utah, she said they had work permits. And she maintains that they never saw the ICE letter or appeared before an immigration judge.

The couple's daughters -- Lisbeth, 9, and Becky, 6 -- will go to Mexico with their parents. Uriel, a ninth-grader, hasn't decided what he will do, but he is leaning toward staying in Utah.

Uriel said his father had warned him that deportation was a possibility, but the teen never thought it would happen to his parents.

"I can't let the land of opportunities go to waste," he said. "They came for a better life, and I need to make that possible."

In 1989, at age 17, Santos moved from Puebla, Mexico, to California. Bertha followed him a year later. The couple moved to Utah in July 1999. Leon started his Spanish-speaking ministry in private homes two years later.

On Tuesday, church members gathered to support the Leon family at their West Valley City home.

Bertha said she has no idea what's she's going to do with their $115,000 house that they bought five years ago, their SUV and truck, the church, their Christian bookstore business, unpaid bills and getting U.S. passports for the kids.

She's also scared to return to a homeland that has few opportunities for them, and her daughters don't want to leave Utah -- the only place they've ever known.

"We've always been together," she said. "We've never been separated."

As for Uriel, he has no idea how long it will be before he sees his dad again.

jsanchez@sltrib.com