A prominent Hispanic Evangelical leader is working to reassure the Latino community that they need not fear the Trump administration's new immigration policies.
Shortly after taking office on January 20, the Trump administration rescinded the “Sensitive Locations Protections” policy, which had restricted federal immigration law enforcement from acting to deport illegal immigrants in or around designated “sensitive” areas.
Pastor Samuel Rodriguez, president of the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference, stated in an interview with The Christian Post that he has “received multiple assurances and clarification regarding the motivation behind that.” He emphasized that the policy change is aimed at targeting criminal illegal immigrants and ensuring that “there is no safe space for criminals to be able to hide, including churches, hospitals, and schools.”
Rodriguez assured the community, saying, “Under no circumstance in the past 250 years of American history has there ever been a moment where federal troops have come in guns blazing into a church. And it will not happen under the Trump administration.” He expressed confidence that he does not foresee a situation where Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents would act aggressively during a Sunday morning service.
The pastor reiterated that “churches are a sacred space, a holy place, a holy ground for parishioners, and there shouldn’t be any fear or angst from the immigrant community, or any community, any group of our demographical landscape, as it pertains to whether they can worship without any fear.” He attributed concerns regarding the new policy among the Latino community to “misinformation,” which he said church leaders are actively working to address.
However, Rodriguez cautioned that if innocent individuals—those who are undocumented but have not committed any crimes—are in proximity to those involved in criminal activities when a raid occurs, they might also face deportation.
He explained, “They(ICE agents) are not going to come into churches, but they might be outside the parking lot area. Not in the parking lot, but outside in the premises, outside the church property, looking for that criminal element to maybe come out of a church service — that gang banger or that person who has a record. That’s a possibility.”
Rodriguez emphasized to the immigrant community that “if you’re not a criminal and you’re a rooted immigrant, you’ve been here for 10, 15, 25, 30 years and your kids were born and raised here, you are not the primary target of ICE … or even other law enforcement agencies that are teaming up with ICE.”
The pastor also addressed the temporary halt on refugee resettlement, which has faced criticism from some Evangelical groups.
Rodriguez stated, “The asylum of our current broken immigration system had so many loopholes, exacerbated by four years of mismanagement, that the Trump administration’s placing a temporary halt.” He reassured that “this is not permanent” and that the administration intends to fix the loopholes. He added that in the past few years, anyone could claim asylum for various vague reasons, prompting the administration to take action until the process could be improved.
Rodriguez was among several Evangelical leaders who recently gathered to discuss the administration’s immigration policies and the future role of the American church.
In a statement published last Tuesday, Bruno Molina, the executive director of the National Hispanic Baptist Network, underscored the importance of community safety, stating, “As a network of Hispanic ministry leaders, we recognize the need for the safety and security of our communities.” He also urged the Department of Homeland Security to reinstate the “Sensitive Locations Protections” for churches to fulfill their mission of serving “the least of these and the stranger among us.”
