US Pastor laments as members boycott church services over deportation fears

A pastor in the United States has expressed concern over a significant decline in church attendance, citing fears of deportation among his congregation members.

Pastor Samuel Cumson of the Church of the Pentecost, USA Inc. in North Columbus, Ohio, revealed that about 50% of his members have stopped attending church services due to concerns about being deported by the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

According to Cumson, the church’s food program, which was previously well-attended, now has few takers. “It is really painful to see,” he said. “The state gives us food to give to them. The community comes, those who are not even members would come and take the food. Now, we put the food out there and they are not coming. What we can do now is to pray.”

The pastor’s concerns are not isolated, as many immigrant communities in the US are living in fear of deportation under the Trump administration’s policies.

Trump’s deportation policy

The Trump administration has stepped up efforts to deport undocumented immigrants, making life difficult for those living in the US without proper documentation.

During his presidential campaign, Trump promised to crack down on illegal immigration and deport millions of undocumented immigrants.

Upon taking office, Trump issued an executive order in January 2017 that expanded the definition of who could be deported, including those convicted of minor crimes or those who had not been convicted of a crime at all.

This order also instructed Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents to prioritize deporting undocumented immigrants who had been convicted of crimes, but also allowed them to target anyone else who was deportable.

The “zero tolerance” policy, implemented in 2018, required that all undocumented immigrants apprehended at the border be prosecuted for illegal entry, resulting in the separation of thousands of children from their parents.

The Trump administration sought to increase the number of deportations by hiring more ICE agents, expanding detention facilities, and reducing the number of asylum seekers who could enter the US.

The Trump administration also expanded the use of expedited removal, allowing ICE agents to deport undocumented immigrants without a court hearing, and increased the number of detention beds available for ICE to hold undocumented immigrants.

ICE Director demoted over “slow action”

Meanwhile, Diaspora Digital Media gathered that Caleb Vitello, the acting director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), was reassigned by Donald Trump due to lower-than-expected deportation numbers.

Vitello, a war veteran, was appointed by Trump in to temporarily lead the agency.

However, he faced mounting pressure to step up enforcement, and his reassignment was reportedly driven by frustration within the Trump administration over the pace of deportations.

Despite being reassigned, Vitello will remain with ICE but in a different role, overseeing field and enforcement operations.

It’s worth noting that Trump has been pushing for increased deportation efforts, aiming to expel millions of undocumented immigrants.

The administration has set quotas for deportation officers to arrest 1,500 undocumented migrants per day, with each field office expected to carry out at least 75 arrests.

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