MCC immigration staff in U.S. field urgent calls, questions
How can we be ready for increased immigration enforcement?
Maria* has a difficult decision to make in September 2025, when her legal documents that allow her to live in the United States expire.
She could stay in the U.S., risking deportation and living under the radar, so that her young teenage daughter, a U.S. citizen, can continue living in her country. Or Maria could move back to Venezuela, after 16 years of living in the U.S., to a country embroiled in humanitarian and political crises so severe that 7.7 million people have fled.
Maria came to Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) East Coast immigration attorney, Rachel Diaz, to see if she has any other options to remain legally after her Temporary Protected Status (TPS) expires. (Maria is a pseudonym to protect her identity.)
Like other immigrants, Maria’s fear and concerns about living in the U.S. without documentation have spiked since newly elected President Donald J. Trump instructed Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents to apprehend 1,000 to 1,200 immigrants daily.
Diaz explained that Maria had no legal options to stay, despite having a clean criminal record, unless Trump extends TPS for Venezuelans.
Instead, Diaz advised her to make sure she has a family preparedness plan so that her daughter would be taken care of in case Maria gets deported.
The plan includes actions, such as:
- Finding a trusted person to care for her daughter;
- Signing state forms giving that trusted person permission to care for her daughter temporarily, including getting medical treatment;
- Having a valid passport for her daughter so she can fly to Venezuela.
“I have girls too,” says Diaz. “And here I’m telling this mom that I know has been working to give her daughter a good life – she’s a good woman – that there’s nothing, no legal recourse for them at this point. So, that was tough to say.”
MCC staff address concerns
As immigrants witness enforcement happening on the news and in the streets, with and without a warrant, calls to MCC’s immigration staff have increased. Immigrants are asking MCC staff for ways to get documentation so they can stay in the country.
They also want to know how to protect their children and their assets in case they get deported. Pastors are inquiring about what to do if ICE agents come to their churches.
MCC’s immigration staff, especially in California and Florida, respond by meeting with clients and meeting with groups in churches and schools. And they listen.
“Sometimes I spend a good 20 minutes with people on the phone trying to listen to their situation, trying to calm them down,” says Crystal Fernandez-Benites, an immigration legal case worker for West Coast MCC. Sometimes there is no legal option, she says, “but you know, the accompaniment, the having someone, an organization where they can trust and go for guidance, I think that’s very important.”
Know your rights
Staff across the country are giving increasing numbers of Know Your Rights presentations in churches, schools and the community. In these presentations, participants learn practical steps to take if they are apprehended and how to exercise their constitutional rights. They include:
- Exercise your right to stay silent.
- Don’t sign anything except an agreement with your own attorney.
- Carry copies of your immigration documents with you.
- Don’t open the door unless the ICE agent shows you a warrant signed by a judge with the specific name and address of someone living in your house.
- Memorize a phone number to call from detention. (Don’t rely on your cell phone.)
One woman who attended a training in California says that she has been very distressed by the increased ICE activity. “I go out feeling afraid. I only go out for the essentials, and I ask God to protect me. For me, this (training) was good because we need to be prepared and know our rights.” She now has an appointment with MCC to start the immigration process.
I go out feeling afraid. I only go out for the essentials, and I ask God to protect me. For me, this (training) was good because we need to be prepared and know our rights.
Participant in Know Your Rights training
Preparing for separation
Fernandez-Benites says the primary concern she hears from those attending the training is about their children. “These are people who have been in the community for a very, very long time. They have lives made here, and they have kids who were born here, and they are minors.”
One pastor, who hosted a West Coast MCC training for her congregation of immigrants, says she and her husband, also a pastor, have been asked by at least three families to be their children’s temporary guardians.
“They are concerned, and as they say, ‘Who else can we trust? We don’t have any relatives here.’ And if they do, they are in another state, and most of them are undocumented too,” the pastor says. She and her husband agree to support them “because my thinking is that the church is here to help.”
Are churches safe?
A Brethren in Christ (BIC) bishop contacted Dina González-Piña, executive director of West Coast MCC, to ask for information the denomination could use to prepare guidance for leaders of BIC schools and churches. The concern was particularly urgent because President Trump removed restrictions that used to prevent ICE agents from apprehending immigrants in schools, hospitals and churches.
González-Piña and Fernandez-Benites compiled the most recent guidance from National Immigration Law Center to give to the pastor. Some of the advice included:
- Train people with legal status to meet an ICE agent outside the church or school.
- That person must examine a warrant to be sure it’s for a specific person, with a correct address and is signed by a judge, not an immigration official.
- Insist the agent only enters public places in the church, not private places like the parsonage or pastor’s office. If the agent doesn’t comply, then film everything that happens without interfering.
In Florida, Jorge Vielman, a South Florida program coordinator for MCC East Coast, says some pastors have taken his advice to use Zoom or hold cell group meetings in homes so people without documents don’t feel compelled to congregate in the main church building. In Vielman’s experience, however, he says ICE has been more likely to wait outside the church to apprehend someone.
How to be supportive
On Feb. 12, the MCC Immigration Network offered a webinar for people who want to support immigrants. Diaz suggested some of the following practical ideas:
- Provide transportation to those without a driver’s license.
- Accompany people to government offices.
- Help people to understand and complete paperwork and keep it secure.
- Consider accepting parental rights temporarily if an immigrant asks.
- Give immigrants information about their rights.
One thing that is very important is to be a friend. We need to help this person. We need to comfort, and we need to pray.
Rachel Diaz
MCC East Coast Immigration attorney
“One thing that is very important is to be a friend,” says Diaz. “We need to help this person. We need to comfort, and we need to pray. We need to pray for the person, we need to pray for their family and for God to give them wisdom for next steps, and we need to pray for salvation. As difficult as this time is for so many people, what an opportunity for all to know that Jesus is savior.”
In addition to MCC’s immigration work in the U.S., MCC staff and partners in Mexico and Central America continue to care for migrants waiting to go into the U.S. and tend to people who have been deported. Other MCC efforts in Latin America and across the globe help people find safety and sustainable livelihoods in their home communities.
*Maria is a pseudonym, used to protect her identity.
Caption for top photo: In early February, participants at the MCC Borderlands Peace Camp stand in front of the U.S.-Mexico border wall in El Paso, Texas. They pass a candle as a prayer for the border communities and everyone affected by recent changes in immigration and border policies. The group was invited to work toward breaking down the walls in our hearts and minds that lead to physical walls. MCC photo/Abraham Diaz Alonso
Immigration-related resources
Whether you're an immigrant or an ally, MCC has an ever-growing list of resources to aid in the struggle for immigration justice.
Migrant ally resources
Immigrant resources
