{"id":31479,"date":"2026-04-08T18:40:50","date_gmt":"2026-04-08T22:40:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/?p=31479"},"modified":"2026-04-08T18:40:50","modified_gmt":"2026-04-08T22:40:50","slug":"a-climate-of-fear-evangelical-leaders-say-deportation-crackdown-is-reshaping-the-american-church","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/2026\/04\/a-climate-of-fear-evangelical-leaders-say-deportation-crackdown-is-reshaping-the-american-church","title":{"rendered":"‘A Climate of Fear’: Evangelical Leaders Say Deportation Crackdown is Reshaping the American Church"},"content":{"rendered":"
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A growing number of evangelical and Catholic leaders are sounding the alarm over U.S. immigration enforcement policies, warning that the impact is being felt not just in communities, but inside churches across the country.<\/p>\n

During a recent press call, leaders from major Christian organizations, including the National Association of Evangelicals, World Relief, and the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, expressed concern that aggressive deportation efforts are disrupting congregations, detaining pastors, and forcing some families\u2014and even ministry leaders\u2014to leave the country altogether.<\/p>\n

Their concerns build on a report<\/a> released last year titled “One Part of the Body,” which found that the majority of immigrants at risk of deportation in the United States identify as Christians. For many leaders, that reality underscores the spiritual weight of the current moment.<\/p>\n

Walter Kim, president of the National Association of Evangelicals, said immigration has long played a vital role in strengthening the American church, particularly in regions where faith participation has declined.<\/p>\n

Reflecting on his time pastoring in Boston, Kim noted that while New England has often been described as one of the most secular parts of the country, the number of churches there actually doubled between 1965 and 2015.<\/p>\n

“Much of that doubling was fueled by the founding of immigrant churches from Latin America, Africa and Asia,” Kim said. “Over the past several decades, immigration has been one of the most significant contributors to church growth in the United States.”<\/p>\n

Now, he warns, that momentum is being threatened.<\/p>\n

“The current immigration enforcement strategy is having such a profound and deleterious effect on the Church,” Kim said, pointing to what he described as “a deep climate of fear.” He added that some congregations are shifting to online services, while others are closing or seeing steep declines in attendance.<\/p>\n

“This is not simply within immigrant churches,” he said. “Many multiethnic churches are experiencing this sort of secondary trauma.”<\/p>\n

The Rev. Gabriel Salguero, president of the National Latino Evangelical Coalition, echoed those concerns, saying “indiscriminate enforcement action is shuttering many immigrant churches.”<\/p>\n

He shared examples from across the country, including church plants in Minneapolis that have been forced to close after years of ministry. “These people\u2026 serving the most vulnerable through soup kitchens, through family counseling, worship and preaching, have now lost three years of work,” Salguero said. “We can, and we must do better.”<\/p>\n

Salguero also highlighted the personal toll on pastors and their families. One associate pastor, Yeison Vasquez, has been held in a New Jersey detention center for weeks, leaving his young daughter asking when her father will return home. Another pastor, Wilber Marenco, was detained in Florida and now faces ongoing legal uncertainty, relying on his congregation for support.<\/p>\n

Others have chosen to leave voluntarily. Alfredo Salas, who served as a church leader in the Chicago area for eight years, said he made the difficult decision to return to Mexico last year because “the risk had grown too great” to remain in the U.S.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, pastors on the ground say the effects are immediate and visible. Victor Martinez of New Generation Church in Minneapolis reported that attendance at his church has dropped by 80% in the past year.<\/p>\n

“Our buildings look like some sort of refugee center for food distribution,” he said, noting that many churches are now focused on meeting urgent needs while grappling with uncertainty about their future.<\/p>\n

As debate over immigration policy continues, many Christian leaders say the issue is no longer just political\u2014it is deeply spiritual, shaping the future of the American church in real time.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A growing number of evangelical and Catholic leaders are sounding the alarm over U.S. immigration enforcement policies, warning that the impact is being felt not just in communities, but inside churches across the country. During a recent press call, leaders from major Christian organizations, including the National Association of Evangelicals, World Relief, and the U.S.…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":516,"featured_media":31482,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fbia_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-31479","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n'A Climate of Fear': Evangelical Leaders Say Deportation Crackdown is Reshaping the American Church<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Evangelical leaders warn that deportation policies are reshaping U.S. churches, as fear, closures, and pastor detentions rise nationwide.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" 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