This move has imperiled 32 of the Latino evangelical denomination’s 70 pastors who are here without legal status and serve in some of the region’s most vulnerable communities, De La Rosa said. The bishop has instructed each congregation with endangered pastors to prepare three laypeople to take over, should their leader be deported. He has also told them to livestream every service, and to “keep recording even if something happens.”
“Some of my pastors are holding services with doors locked because they are scared that immigration agents will burst through the door at any moment,” he said. “I feel so bad and so helpless that I can do nothing more for them.”De La Rosa echoes the sentiments of several other faith leaders representing thousands of Latino evangelical Christians in Florida and swaths of the Southeast. They worry about the sanctity of their sacred spaces, and the possibility of immigration raids and arrests.
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A statement from the Department of Homeland Security on Jan. 20 said the president’s executive order will empower officers with Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection to enforce immigration laws and that “criminals will no longer be able to hide in America’s schools and churches to avoid arrest.”
Agustin Quiles, a spokesperson for the Florida Fellowship of Hispanic Councils and Evangelical Institutions, said community members, including many who supported Donald Trump in the last election cycle, now feel devastated and abandoned.
“The messaging appears to be that anyone who is undocumented is a criminal,” he said. “Latino evangelicals for the most part voted Republican and hold conservative views on issues like abortion. We want to ask the president to reconsider because these actions are causing pain and trauma to so many families in and beyond our churches. Their suffering is great, and the church is suffering with them.”Quiles said his organisation will lobby legislators in Washington and Florida to reinstate laws that protected sensitive spaces like houses of worship.
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“Our main focus is the unity of families and the many children who will be impacted or left behind without their parents,” he said.
Pastor Samuel Rodriguez, president of the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference, who advised President Trump on immigration during his first term, says he has been assured on multiple occasions “by those in the know” that houses of worship have nothing to fear.
“There should be zero angst as it pertains to churches because no one is going to come into a church with or without guns blazing,” he said. “That is never going to happen.”
However, Rodriguez said agents may surveil a church if they suspect someone engaged in criminal activity is seeking shelter there. And he said those who are here illegally — even if they have lived in the United States for decades — may be deported if they are living with or are around someone who is here illegally and has committed a crime.
The National Association of Evangelicals, which says it represents 40 congregations and serves millions, expressed dismay at the executive order.
“Withdrawal of guidance protecting houses of worship, schools and health facilities from immigration enforcement is troubling,” it said on January 22, asserting that the move has deterred some from attending church.
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(Edited by : Vijay anand)
First Published: Feb 7, 2025 7:21 PM IS
