Hispanic Pentecostal Leaders Press White House to Extend Protection for Salvadoran Immigrants
Fifty Hispanic Pentecostal bishops and denominational leaders, representing more than 21,000 congregations across the United States and Latin America, gathered in Washington on September 8 to press the Trump administration to extend Temporary Protected Status for roughly 170,000 Salvadoran immigrants whose legal status was set to expire the next day, and to reinstate TPS for Haitian immigrants. The gathering was organized by the Confraternity of Pentecostal Entities of the Americas, a coalition launched in January, and included leaders from the Assemblies of God and the Church of God of Prophecy.
"The church needs to be where it hurts, and what's hurting today is the immigrant community," said Bishop Benjamin Feliz of the Church of God of Prophecy, emphasizing that immigrants possess a human dignity deserving protection. The leaders said the stakes are not abstract for their own congregations, reporting that 19 pastors have already been detained or deported and nearly 200 church members have been similarly affected.
