Worcester, MASS-- Immigration policies now in place by President Donald Trump and his administration are causing confusion and concern across the country.

“We’re never at the door saying oh by the way, what is your legal status because to be honest, what people’s legal status is or isn’t, we don’t know,” Christian Community Church reverend Sarai Rivera said. 

Rivera said it’s alarming Trump revoked a policy barring federal immigration agents from carrying out immigration enforcement in places like churches and schools. She said it goes against what the church represents--a place where people can freely worship without fear.

“In here, we become spiritual parents, siblings. We support each other. We celebrate birthdays together. We go to each other events. Life altering events,” Rivera said 

Local immigration attorney Randy Feldman said he’s not aware of immigration agents conducting any work in Worcester outside of taking specific individuals into custody. He said these agents are targeting criminals or people who have been ordered deported and most people, have nothing to worry about.

“They don’t have enough space to detain a mother who is unauthorized, if they came for, for instance, her husband who had been ordered deported,” Feldman said.  “They don’t have enough space to detain mothers. They don’t have a lot of space to detain women, and they don’t generally want to take a child’s mother away.”

Feldman said he believes most of Trump’s immigration policies are aimed at building fear, so people will either leave on their own or never enter the country in the first place.

“If you have a green card and you haven’t committed any crimes or you came as an immigrant and now you’re a U.S. citizen, you have absolutely nothing to worry about, Feldman said. 

Back at Christian Community Church, Rivera said they’re closely watching for new updates from the White House and as they do, church leadership will protect their members any way they can.

“We’ve already started legal advisement. I met briefly with a lawyer yesterday. We are going to figure out what our rights are. We are going to figure out what we can and cannot do,” Rivera said. “So, buckle up because these next four years we’re in for a continuous ride.”