Faith versus politics: A pastor responds to fear with hope in Corona

The Aliento de Vida church in Corona and its pastor, Victor Tiburcio, are working to try to keep migrants and congregants safe amid growing fear in local immigrant communities. Eagle photo by Adelina Romero 

By Adelina Romero

Pastor Victor Tiburcio stands on the main stage at Aliento de Vida Church in Corona, surrounded by sky-blue walls and parishioners standing with their arms in the air, some crying while praying in whispers

Five times a week, the 51-year-old pastor preaches to more than 3,000 parishioners from 30 countries at the church, located in a former vaudeville theater across from Corona Plaza in the heart of the largest Latino community in New York City.

Down the stairs from where Tiburcio is preaching, on the front door of the church, facing the popular plaza, there’s a sign that reads: "No federal agents allowed entry without a warrant."

It is a message of support and reassurance for the churchgoers, many of whom are undocumented and live in fear of deportation raids by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

With the policies of the second Trump administration, many immigrants in Corona are fearful of resuming their daily routines amid reports of deportation raids. In January, the president signed an executive order that eliminated protections for schools, hospitals, and places of worship, allowing ICE agents to enter.

But within Aliento de Vida, Tiburcio assures parishioners that the church remains a safe space.

"Even though they removed that protection, they've never entered here, and I don't think that they will,” Tiburcio told the Eagle. "We are still praying and believing that this is a safe place.”

On Thursday nights, as a youth Bible group meets, Tiburcio works in his second-floor office surrounded by family photographs and religious texts.

“To immigrants, I tell them they are not alone,” Tiburcio said. “There is a community here that will embrace them, that will guide them. This church exists for that, to accompany them in their process.”

In January, when Trump took office, Tiburcio noticed an initial change in church attendance, as locals’ fears of raids and deportation grew.

Although the congregation is now back to its normal levels, Tiburcio said.

“It was noticeable that people were fearful, but people understand that they need to survive, they need to eat, they need to work,” he said.

The pastor emphasized that undocumented parishioners in Corona must continue with their daily routines despite fears of being deported. Referring to the sign at the entrance, Tiburcio said its goal was to assure the parishioners that law enforcement officers wouldn't enter without judicial permission.

"We consulted the city authorities, and they gave us that guidance, because a court order was required to enter," he said.

Born in the Dominican Republic, Tiburcio was a journalist for 25 years before immigrating to the United States in July 1997 with his wife, Hattie, and their three young children, all younger than three at the time.

“We started from scratch,” he said. “We moved forward with faith and discipline.”

Tiburcio and his wife began preaching in a small congregation in Brooklyn and founded Aliento de Vida in Corona in 2000. Today, his children are professionals, and his eldest son, Victor Tiburcio Jr., is the co-pastor of Aliento de Vida. The ministry has expanded its locations to Staten Island, Orlando, Florida, Samaná, Dominican Republic, and Envigado, Colombia.

In addition to weekly services, the church operates a worldwide Spanish-language television channel called Aliento Vision, which broadcasts sermons, music, and family-centered Christian programming. He also runs two educational ministries, hoping to increase the number of Latino religious leaders: the Institute of Leadership and Ministry, which offers certified-level training in Bible, theology, and pastoral care, and the University of Leadership and Ministry, offering associate and master's degrees in Christian leadership.

“We are preparing the new generation,” he said. “Not only spiritually, but also with the tools to serve anywhere in the world.”

Tiburcio says the church plays an important role in the community, helping newcomers settle into the neighborhood even as the fears remain.

Aliento de Vida has two lawyers, one specializing in immigration, and another who specializes in helping people seek rehabilitation for drug problems. With costs covered by the church, Tiburcio says that honest and trustworthy congregants are taken care of.

“We are a church that helps undocumented people,” said Tiburcio. “We’ve supported them with lawyers, with food, with everything, but also spiritually. That’s what gives strength.”

Tiburcio’s commitment to uplifting congregants runs deep, with longtime congregants sharing how the church not only helped them in their time of need. Now, they are paying it forward.

Sucre Félix, 59, runs the church's food bank. He came to the church in 2006 during a personal crisis.

“I lived an ugly life of alcohol and drugs,” He said, “Thank God, I met the pastor here at church. Now my life is totally different. I met my wife here.”

Felix emphasized that in the midst of many difficulties, this church has been his refuge. Almost 20 years later, he has become a trusted leader at Aliento De Vida, running the church’s food bank that serves dozens of families each week.

Fanny Lema, 45, another volunteer, had a similar life transformation after coming to Aliento de Vida.

She arrived in 2012 at a time when she was emotionally devastated, rejected by her family, and skeptical of churches after being scammed by another pastor who falsely promised a visa for her daughter.

"When I arrived here, I felt God, I knew that this was my home," Lema said. "What my own family couldn't give me, this church gave me. The pastor and his wife embraced me and helped me heal."

Lema admitted that it was not easy to trust a pastor again after what she called "a betrayal that

almost took away my faith."

“If I had held on to resentment, I would have lost everything God had for me,” Lema said. “But when I came here and heard the voice of the pastor, I knew this time was different. Here I found the restoration.”

Pastor Victor Tiburcio of the Aliento de Vida church in Corona at his desk. Eagle photo by Adelina Romero

Today, Lema and her husband, whom she met at Aliento de Vida, volunteer weekly during Wednesday and Sunday services. She describes the pastors as “a blessing to this community,” not only for their sermons, but for being a model of integrity and love in action.

Tiburcio spoke with great pride about the lives changed by the church and said these stories are what keep him going.

Still, he faced difficulty trying to welcome newcomers. In 2022, during the migrant crisis in New York when more than 225,000 migrants filled shelters and hotels in the city, Tiburcio said the “delinquency” of a small few disrupted life around Corona Plaza.

Quality-of-life at Corona Plaza is a hot-button issue locally, as are similar issues on Roosevelt Avenue, the major throughway adjacent to the plaza.

How to handle the problems, mainly concerning sanitation, prostitution, and retail theft, has split local officials and activists.

Last year, a deal with the city created a formal vendors market in Corona Plaza, a first step for alleviating some of the issues.

With a house of worship directly facing the Plaza and Roosevelt, Tiburcio has dealt with the issues firsthand.

"We had to carry bottles of chlorine because there were people who defecated in front of the church door,” he said. “We had to clean the entire block every week.”

Although this small group caused disturbances in Corona Plaza, Tiburcio emphasized that they did not represent the overall population of migrants who came to the city in recent years.

“It’s unfair to judge everyone by the actions of a few,” he said.

At the same time, the pastor believes that frustration with these individual incidents is indicative of a larger discontent that residents feel with elected officials.

In the 2024 presidential election, President Donald Trump flipped six election districts in Corona, which had largely supported President Biden just four years earlier, contributing to a borough-wide 10.5-point surge in Republican votes. Tiburcio suggested the Democratic Party leadership's handling of the crisis could be what pushed many Corona residents to vote for Trump, not out of loyalty, but out of protest.

“It’s not that people really wanted to vote for Trump, but they were voting against those who allowed the situation to get out of control,” he said referring to New York City Mayor Eric Adams and former President Joe Biden. “People got fed up with the prostitution and robberies.”

Despite the challenges, Tiburcio says his faith keeps him strong. For him, each story of transformation is proof that, with hard work and hope, it is possible to move forward, and he remains steadfast in his mission of support, despite the politics.

"My role is pastoral, but also civic,” he said. “I'm not a politician, but if something goes wrong, I'll speak up.”