Pastor Rudy Lopez serves at Iglesia Restauración Familiar, a Spanish-language Pentecostal church in northwest Charlotte, which is home to numerous immigrants — some of them undocumented.
“I think they should respect the priorities of the church, which should be a place of refuge for people to come and serve God,” Lopez said.
Last month, the Trump administration reversed a Biden-era policy on sensitive locations, now allowing Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers to arrest people in churches. An immigrant from the Dominican Republic, Lopez says the new administration is not following God’s word.
“The Bible tells us that we have to welcome immigrants, we have to give them support,” Lopez said.
In his 18 years in the United States, Lopez has advocated for undocumented immigrants. He believes there should be a balance in immigration enforcement.
“Take the people who have committed crimes here, people who have not done things right, but do not take the people who are already in this country and doing things right,” Lopez said.
Pastors like Lopez are navigating conflicting cross-currents, such as increased Latino support for Trump in the 2024 election, and an increasingly hostile attitude of white evangelical Christians toward immigrants. Polls show a majority of them support harsh restrictions on immigration and refugees. The Trump administration has also cut off aid that religious groups use to resettle refugees.
But in the pews across Charlotte each Sunday, the questions and fears feel less abstract and more personal.
Pastor Candido Albino and his wife, Pilar Perez, lead Hickory Grove United Methodist Church’s Latino ministry in east Charlotte. Perez says church attendance has not decreased since Trump took office, but fear remains high.
“There’s a lot of fear,” Perez said. “Thank goodness that attendance has been great because of the way that we present the situation. We do not cultivate fear unless we tell people they must take care, but there’s a lot of fear.”
The Western North Carolina Conference of the United Methodist Church advised churches to ask ICE agents for a judicial warrant before allowing entry and instructed church employees and volunteers not to assist or provide information to ICE officers.
It remains to be seen whether ICE will start raiding churches. On Tuesday, the Western North Carolina Conference, along with other religious groups across the country filed a federal lawsuit challenging the new policy that allows ICE to make arrests at places of worship.
“We’re a church of social justice because that’s what Jesus preached,” Perez said. “That’s the way churches should go. They should go by the scripture which defends the neighbors, the immigrants, as Jesus was one and his family.”
Vice President JD Vance, who says he’s a devout Catholic, caused a stir last week when he said the Catholic Church’s work to resettle immigrants and refugees is driven just by a desire to get federal funding.
Father Peter, of the Catholic Diocese of Charlotte, also provides a sense of safety for his community. He leads a Catholic church on the outskirts of the city, where more than half the congregation is Hispanic.
“The church property is private property," Father Peter said. "And, as private property, we have certain legal rights — as well as do people present on our property.”
Father Peter says many congregants fear being targeted not just at church but even on their way to worship.
“Our faith teaches that people have a right to immigrate in search of a better life,” Father Peter said.
Last week, North Carolina bishops issued a joint statement on immigration, saying they do not condone violating the law but urged the Catholic faithful to support and care for immigrants during this time.
