An estimated 11 million unauthorized migrants live in the U.S. according to the Department of Homeland Security. President-elect Donald Trump's plan to mobilize the military to assist with mass deportations has many in the Hispanic community concerned.
"Any language of mass deportation will send a chill up the Latino evangelical church's spine," Pastor Gabriel Salguero of the National Latino Evangelical Coalition told CBN News.
Trump's incoming "Border Czar" Tom Homan says criminals will be the initial focus.
"There hasn't been enough focus on criminal aliens, specifically these alien gangs like Tren de Aragua and MS-13," Homan said in a recent Fox News interview. "President Trump has promised that public safety threats and national security threats are their priority right outta the gate."
Pastor Salguero also told CBN News why he believes more than 40 percent of Latinos voted for Trump despite his harsh immigration rhetoric.
"Some of the social issues, as you know Hispanic evangelicals, we tend to be socially conservative on some of the issues and I think those were priorities, particularly amongst Latino and Latina evangelicals," he explained.
Salguero also believes mass deportation will likely affect Latino churches, something many are preparing about.
"The National Latino Evangelical Coalition has had several national calls with our pastors to say, have our immigration ministries and our attorneys ready to respond to any legal questions. The second thing is, we are partnering with our sister churches in Latin America to see how they are receiving this news and how they're going to respond," Salguero said.
While most Americans agree with deporting violent criminals, Matt Soerens with World Relief said many evangelicals don't want families separated.
"If what he means by using the military to carry out the largest deportation in American history would be large numbers of immigrants who have been in the country for many years, who do not have any criminal histories, who in many cases have U.S.-born children, I think that will be very concerning for us at World Relief and to a lot of the evangelical Christians that we interact with," Soerens said in an interview with CBN News.
The desire of Rev. Samuel Rodriguez of the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference is that more Americans will view the complex issues of immigration and the border through a biblical lens.
"With Matthew 25 and Leviticus 19, it should be a lens of compassion and the rule of law," said Rodriguez. "Romans 13 – obey the government as it pertains to laws that are in there for the preservation of liberties, and rights, and the security of families and homes."
Meanwhile, Salguero is trusting for a compassionate response.
"We're hoping that people can reconcile a humane immigration reform without having this disastrous impact on our families and our congregations," Salguero said.
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