A Cary pastor who was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents in July has been released, according to the pastor's daughter.

The family of 55-year-old Gabriel Johnson, in a statement posted on Instagram on Friday, said he has been released from ICE custody and will be moving to a 24-hour rehabilitation hospital for medical treatment.

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"My father's release does not erase what has happened or the challenges our family continues to face," his daughter, Gabri Johnson, said in the Instagram post. "But it allows him to focus on healing and begin the rehabilitation he so desperately needs."

According to Gabri Johnson, ICE took her father into custody in mid-July in what the family was told was a "misunderstanding around a missed immigration appointment." The family was later told officials were pursuing Gabriel’s removal under a broader change in federal immigration policy, she said.

Gabri Johnson told WRAL News that her father was born in Liberia but had lived in the United States with legal status since he was 15 years old. He never became a citizen.

While in ICE custody, Gabri Johnson said her father had been treated poorly, which resulted in him suffering a stroke that paralyzed the left side of his body. She said ICE was blocking her father from entering the rehabilitation care he needed to relearn how to walk.

ICE sent WRAL News the following statement in August when we asked about Gabri Johnson's claims:

"ICE categorically rejects the allegation that Johnson is being denied medical care. Johnson was transported to the Texas Health Harris Hospital on July 30 after exhibiting stroke-like symptoms and remains under the care of licensed medical professionals.

Any suggestion that ICE is preventing Johnson from receiving necessary treatment is false. ICE does not make clinical decisions, direct treatment, or interfere with the medical judgement of doctors, nurses or hospital staff. Johnson is being treated in a civilian hospital by medical professionals who are responsible for his care. Claims that he is not receiving appropriate treatment disregard the work of the physicians, nurses, and other medical personnel providing care in accordance with their professional judgement."

Gabri Johnson said her father's release was an "enormous victory," but said it was shadowed by "the grief we share with families who still live afraid that someone they love could be abruptly taken from them and never make it home."

"We pray that they, too, will see the day when their loved ones can come home," Gabri Johnson said. "Thank you, from the bottom of our hearts."