As Salvadoran TPS deadline nears, Hispanic Pentecostal leaders urge immigration protections

(RNS) — Fifty Hispanic Pentecostal bishops and denominational leaders, who represent more than 21,000 congregations across the U.S. and Latin America, are gathering in Washington on Tuesday (Sept. 8) to press the Trump administration to extend the Temporary Protected Status program for about 170,000 Salvadoran immigrants. Their legal immigration status through the program is set to expire on Wednesday.

“The church needs to be where it hurts, and what’s hurting today is the immigrant community,” said Bishop Benjamin Feliz, the general presbyter for the Church of God of Prophecy in Central America, who lives in Cleveland, Tennessee. “According to the Bible, they have the image of God and need to be treated with dignity and respect for the sanctity of life.”

Tuesday’s meeting is organized by the Confraternity of Pentecostal Entities of the Americas (CEPA), a new group launched in January that unites several Pentecostal denominations. Feliz is the group’s vice president.

Agustín Quiles, CEPA’s spokesperson, said the denominational leaders from 36 states were inspired to get more involved politically because of the pain they are witnessing daily. The leaders counted 19 pastors…