> Trump-Voting Pastor Says He 'Was Really Wrong' After ICE Deportations Devastate His Church, Force Him to Take Second Job

The Rev. Juan Carlos Calderón voted for Donald Trump in 2024 because he believed the president shared his Christian values and would focus immigration enforcement on criminals. Now, after church members were detained, families were separated, and attendance and donations declined at his Florida congregation, Calderón says he was wrong about Trump's deportation agenda and has taken a second full-time job to support himself.

Calderón, a Venezuelan-born US citizen who leads Un Nuevo Comienzo, an Assemblies of God church in Lake Worth Beach, said he had expected the Trump Admin to target gang members and immigrants who committed offences such as driving under the influence, rather than people without criminal records. 'I was really wrong,' Calderón said in Spanish. 'They're not looking for criminals.'

The consequences have extended beyond his political views. Two members of his congregation were detained and subsequently had to leave the US, according to Calderón. In one case, a pregnant US citizen whose husband had spent three months in immigration detention decided to leave the country with their two children.

Other congregants have become so frightened of immigration enforcement that they are reluctant to go to work or attend church. The resulting decline in the congregation's finances has forced Calderón to take a warehouse coordinator position alongside his pastoral responsibilities, ending eight years of working exclusively as a full-time pastor.
Immigration Enforcement Tests Christian Conservatives' Allegiance to Trump

Calderón's change of heart reflects a wider dilemma facing Hispanic Protestants, including evangelicals, who helped Trump build his winning coalition in 2024 but are increasingly questioning the consequences of his administration's policies.

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https://www.ibtimes.co.uk/florida-pasto … nd-1827431