Members of a Mennonite church in San Antonio, Texas, face increased fear and uncertainty after a member — a mother of four who entered the United States legally — was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers in late May.

Iglesia Cristiana Roca de Refugio (Rock of Refuge Christian Church) is an immigrant-led congregation dedicated to assisting newcomers.

Pastor Dianne Garcia said Maria (not her real name) has been an active member since arriving in September and signing the church’s membership covenant. She led worship on a weekly basis.

She is using a pseudonym because the Trump administration has sought retribution against immigrants who speak out against the president’s policies.

“She arrived in California with her husband and kids in a program President Biden put in place for people to legally cross the border,” said Garcia, who was one of the featured speakers at Mennonite Church USA’s 2023 convention. “They had to wait in Mexico for eight months. Then she crossed a checkpoint with all her documentation correct.

“They came to a shelter in California and then came to us because they had no room. [Roca de Refugio is] one of the only long-term shelters in the country for immigrants. They had just moved out in April. She was at work, her husband was at home with the youngest kid, and the other three kids were in school when immigration came.”

Garcia went to the family’s home when ICE officers arrived on May 23. She believes a neighbor likely called an immigration enforcement hotline.

“Part of the story is people can ­weaponize ICE these days,” Garcia said. “They knocked on this door and the little kid opened the door, and once the door is open they have full access and they can basically do whatever they want.

“The husband called her at work. I met them in the parking lot, and I was there to video. I said you need to go, they could detain you, but she felt that she couldn’t walk away when ICE is there with her kid and husband. They ended up taking her and left her kids and her husband.”

The congregation has been working to help Maria and others with legal fees as they struggle to navigate the detention system. Another member was detained when he went to an appointment at an ICE office.

“Ten or 11 people from our church community have court dates coming up in the next couple of days,” Garcia said in early June, noting individuals are worried they could be arrested and deported when they appear at a hearing.

Maria’s family entered the U.S. under a program known as CBP1, which allowed them to cross at a point of entry and receive a work permit in return for waiting in Mexico.

The Trump administration declared that program illegal in early April and revoked the status of everyone who entered under it.

“Almost a million people entered in that program, so they all lost everything — their status, their work permits, applications were denied immediately,” Garcia said. “. . . If people committed a crime, yes we should deport them. But we are actually making more people undocumented.

“He’s not targeting criminals. He’s targeting a group who very carefully decided to follow the law and chose to wait in Mexico for a long time. He’s targeting the most law-abiding group of immigrants who are entering this country and saying, ‘You’re undocumented, and we can do whatever we want.’ ”

Roca de Refugio works with about 250 families who have some connection to the congregation. People are bringing meals, watching kids and doing other things to offer support, but the actions being carried out on even legal residents are fatiguing.

Garcia calls them atrocities.

“What it’s really done is make people feel like they are never safe,” she said. “It’s impossible to describe to people who have never experienced it how that fear drains and exhausts you. Every sound, every knock on the door, every moment you are outside you feel like you could be taken from your kids. The pain of being separated from your kids is bigger than the pain of being deported with your family.

“You can only hold a kid 20 days in detention, but you can hold adults much longer. So I think they are selectively taking single parents and hoping they decide for the whole family to leave on their own.”

Fear and anxiety have also increased due to a White House directive to end ICE’s policy of not entering “sensitive locations” such as houses of worship, healthcare facilities and schools. MC USA has joined other denominations in a lawsuit that claims the policy has hindered their ability to minister and worship.

The congregation sends videos of worship services to people who don’t feel safe attending in person. Lacking air conditioning, Roca de Refugio deals with South Texas heat by keeping its doors open and stationing people to keep watch for visitors coming for something other than worship.

“If there could just be one place you could go to feel safe, it would be such a relief,” Garcia said. “That feeling of never being safe is exhausting and inhumane. If they could at least come to church and feel ICE can’t get to them, that would mean so much.”

The congregation has created a ­GoFundMe account to support Maria’s legal fees ahead of her next hearing on June 25 at gofundme.com/f/help-us-raise-legal-fees-for-our-detained-sister.