As deportation fears keep immigrants from work, their churches feel financial strain

As deportation fears keep immigrants from work, their churches feel financial strain

(RNS) — Newly strained finances are just one reality that Latino immigrant churches are adjusting to as the Trump administration accelerates a promised mass deportation campaign and other aggressive changes to immigration policy.

As Deportation Expands, Churches Weigh How to Care for Immigrants

At Celebration Church, a Portuguese- and English-speaking Baptist congregation in the Boston area, the benevolence fund is supposed to be there to help church families meet basic needs, such as food, clothing and heat, throughout the year. But in April, three months into President Donald Trump’s campaign to deport immigrants, the money had already been almost completely spent. “If a family member has been detained, the church tries to mobilize t…

Churches feel strain, as deportation fears keep immigrants from work - Deacon Greg Kandra

My pastor told me recently that attendance at our Spanish-language Masses has dropped by about 20%. Evidently, we aren’t the only ones. It’s part of a nation-wide trend. A closer look, from RNS:  At Celebration Church, a Portuguese- and English-speaking Baptist congregation in the Boston area, the benevolence fund is supposed to be there to help church families meet basic needs, such as food, clothing and heat, throughout the year. But in April,…