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PRESIDENTIAL FAITH ADVISOR to CBN NEWS: There's a Way to End This Weekend's Immigration Raids

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One of President Trump's faith advisors is not so subtly signaling that Congress has the power to put a stop to this weekend's planned immigration raids.

Pastor Tony Suarez told CBN News Friday on Newswatch, "If we don't want to see raids we need Congress to call an emergency session. They need to come to an agreement and they need to bring forth legislation that the president can sign into law. That would stop all of the raids."

Suarez works closely with another one of the president's faith advisors, Pastor Sam Rodriguez, who leads the 40,000-member National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference (NHCLC). Both have lobbied Capitol Hill for immigration reform for years, developing close relationships with leaders on both sides.

On Thursday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi credited Hispanic evangelical leaders for playing a significant role in stopping last month's planned raids. "I think their calls to the president made a difference," she said. "Hopefully the president will think again about it or these groups will weigh in once more."

Suarez said the administration has assured him that it will limit the raids to 2,000 immigrants who have entered in the last four years and have a deportation order.

He said the NHCLC is encouraging its members to attend church on Sunday, both for spiritual comfort and because immigration officials generally avoid making arrests at sensitive locations like houses of worship.

"Come to church, worship the Lord," said Suarez. "Stay as long as you like on Sunday."

Suarez said undocumented immigrants should not fear arrest this weekend unless they're in the group that the Trump administration is targeting.

"I think we need to put an end to the fear, to those that elicit fear, that spread this message of fear that tens of millions of people should hide in their homes on Sunday," he said. "That's not what the administration says is going to take place."

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About The Author

Heather
Sells

Heather Sells covers wide-ranging stories for CBN News that include religious liberty, ministry trends, immigration, and education. She’s known for telling personal stories that capture the issues of the day, from the border sheriff who rescues migrants in the desert to the parents struggling with a child that identifies as transgender. In the last year, she has reported on immigration at the Texas border, from Washington, D.C., in advance of the Dobbs abortion case, at crisis pregnancy centers in Massachusetts, and on sexual abuse reform at the annual Southern Baptist meeting in Anaheim