For the past week, communities across San Diego have been grappling with the impact of President Trump’s executive orders on immigration. At one church in City Heights, fear of deportation has kept hundreds of worshippers away.
Pastor Johny Oxeda leads a predominantly Haitian congregation. He says on a busy weekend before the presidential inauguration, more than 700 people would attend. This last weekend, however, only about 200 people showed up.
“We are not seeing that many people come to our service," said Pastor Oxeda. "When we start calling some people and we say, ‘Why are you guys not coming? What happened?’ They say, ‘Because of the situation, the immigration situation going on right now.’”
Oxeda says many of the church members are here legally under a humanitarian parole program that was launched during the Biden administration. The program allows asylum seekers from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela to stay in the U.S. for up to two years, provided they meet strict conditions — including having a financial sponsor and passing security screenings. The program is similar to the 'Uniting for Ukraine' program that allowed Ukrainians to come to the U.S. after war with Russia broke out.
Last week, President Trump signed an executive order halting the humanitarian parole programs, throwing the futures of thousands of immigrants into uncertainty.
Pastor Oxeda says the stakes in his community are high.
“What will happen to them if they get deported?” reporter Madison Weil asked.
“A lot, because some of them left my country because they were targeted by gang members,” he said.
One Haitian man, who asked to remain anonymous, summed up the sentiment in his community:
“Before the election, everyone was living in peace. But after the election, we lost that peace.”
An internal Department of Homeland Security (DHS)memo, obtained by ABC 10News, suggests that even those currently in the U.S. legally under the parole program may still be at risk of deportation. An immigration attorney confirmed that deportation decisions will likely be made on a case-by-case basis, and there is also a strong possibility that once an individual’s two-year stay expires, their parole will not be renewed.
One church member expressed hope that the U.S. will continue to support refugees:
“I hope they treat refugees better because the power of the United States comes from immigrants.”
So far, Pastor Oxeda says he has not seen Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents near his church, and he is not aware of any congregation members who are being investigated. As the situation unfolds, many in the Haitian community remain in limbo, unsure of what the future holds.
ABC 10News will continue to follow this developing story.
