Bishop Ebli de la Rosa says his motto right now is “to prepare for the worst and pray for the best.”

De la Rosa, who monitors Church of God of Prophecy -Assembly in nine southeastern states, says he has had to respond quickly to the Trump administration’s new order, which has threw out policies The enforcement of immigration in sensitive places such as schools and houses for worship.

This trait has imperiled 32 of Latino Evangelical denomination’s 70 pastors who are here without legal status and serve in some of the region’s most vulnerable societies, De La Rosa said. The bishop has instructed each congregation with threatened pastors to prepare three laymen to take over if their leaders are deported. He has also told them to live stream every service and to “continue to record even if something happens.”

“Some of my pastors keep services with doors locked because they are afraid that immigration agents will burst through the door at any time,” he said. “I feel so bad and so helpless that I can’t do anything more for them.”

De la Rosa echoes the emotions of several other faith leaders representing thousands of Latino Evangelical Christians in Florida and Skår in the southeast. The Worry about holiness in their holy spacesAnd the possibility of immigration attacks and arrests.

A statement from the Department of Homeland Security on January 20 said that the president’s executive order will strengthen officials with immigration and customs administration and customs and border protection to implement immigration laws and that “criminals will no longer be able to hide in US schools and churches to avoid arrest. “

Agustin Quiles, a spokesman for the Florida Fellowship of Hispanic Councils and Evangelical Institutions, said community members, including many who supported Donald Trump In the last election Bicycle, now feels devastated and abandoned.

“Messages seem to be that everyone who is undocumented is a criminal,” he said. “Latino Evangelicals mostly voted Republican and have conservative views on issues such as abortion. We want to ask the president to reconsider because these actions cause pain and trauma for so many families inside and outside our churches. Their suffering is great, and the church suffers from them. “

Kvils said that his organization will lobby legislators in Washington and Florida to reintroduce laws that protected sensitive spaces as a house for worship.

“Our main focus is the families and the many children who will be affected or left without their parents,” he said.

Pastor Samuel Rodriguez, chairman of the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference, who prevailed President Trump for immigration during his first term of office, says he has been safe on several occasions “by those who know” that “houses have nothing to fear.

“There should be zero in terms of churches because no one will enter a church with or without weapons that burn,” he said. “It will never happen.”

However, Rodriguez said that agents can monitor a church if they suspect that someone who conducts criminal activities is seeking protection there. And he said that those who are illegal here – even if they have lived in the United States for decades – can be deported if they live with or are around someone who is here illegally and has committed a crime.

The National Association of Evangelicals, which says it represents 40 parishes and earns millions, expressed dismay at the executive order.

“Withdrawal of guidance that protects houses for worship, schools and health care facilities from immigration is worrying,” said it on January 22, claiming that the move has deterred some from going to church.

Pastors who see the effects of these orders on the ground agree.

Pastor Esteban Rodriguez, who leads Centro Cristiano El Pan de Vida, a medium -sized church of God of the Prophetic Assembly in Kissimmee, Florida, said that Latino Evangelical churches “are like a large family composed of families.” In his society, those who are here without legal status have even been afraid to go to work, the church and to food pantries to meet their basic needs, he said.

Rodriguez said he has helped some congregations with reference letters for their immigration applications and talk to lawyers to see how the church can help proactively.

Pastor Ruben Ortiz, Latino Field coordinator for cooperative Baptist scholarship, says that the Latino churches have spent decades creating these sacred spaces at great costs, without relying on state assistance. Ortiz said he was worried about hearing about an incident outside a church in the Atlanta area where a person was arrested while a service was held inside.