Vietnam has deported an ailing pastor to the United States, after releasing him from prison over his campaign for religious freedom.

Nguyen Cong Chinh was serving an 11-year prison sentence for “undermining national solidarity” through religious activities with ethnic groups in the country’s Central Highlands.

He was also a director of the Vietnam-US Lutheran Alliance Church.

A statement released last week by the US human rights group Boat People SOS said that Chinh arrived in Los Angeles on July 28 with his wife and five children.

Chinh’s release came with the condition of deportation and comes amid a series of arrests of activists and religious freedom advocates in Vietnam.