An underground network is readying homes to hide immigrants

But this home Pastor Ada Valiente is showing off in Los Angeles, with its refurbished floors, is no ordinary home.

"It would be three families we host here," Valiente says.

By "host," she means provide refuge to people who may be sought by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, known as ICE. The families staying here would be undocumented immigrants, fearing an ICE raid and possible deportation.

The purchase of this home is part of a network formed by Los Angeles religious leaders across faiths in the wake of Donald Trump's election. The intent is to shelter hundreds, possibly thousands of undocumented people in safe houses across Southern California.

The goal is to offer another sanctuary beyond religious buildings or schools, ones that require federal authorities to obtain warrants before entering the homes.

"That's what we need to do as a community to keep families together," Valiente says.

At another Los Angeles neighborhood miles away, a Jewish man shows off a sparsely decorated spare bedroom in his home. White sheets on the bed and the clean, adjacent full bathroom bear all the markers of an impending visit. The man, who asked not to be identified, pictures an undocumented woman and her children who may find refuge in his home someday.

The man says he's never been in trouble before and has difficulty picturing that moment. But he's well educated and understands the Fourth Amendment, which gives people the right to be secure in their homes, against unreasonable searches and seizures. He's pictured the moment if ICE were to knock on his door.

"I definitely won't let them in. That's our legal right," he says. "If they have a warrant, then they can come in. I can imagine that could be scary, but I feel the consequences of being passive in this moment is a little scary."

The secret network

The religious leaders have a name for their network: the Rapid Response Team. The idea is not necessarily a new one, according to Reverend Zach Hoover, executive director of the interfaith community organization LA Voice.

Hoover, 37, wasn't an active member during the Sanctuary Movement of the 1980s when US congregations across faiths resisted federal law and provided shelter for Central Americans fleeing violence in their home countries. Many congregations offered direct sanctuary, housing the undocumented immigrants, while others offered food and legal assistance.

The Rapid Response Team mirrors that structure, but goes one step further by also incorporating private homes, which offer a higher level of constitutional protection than houses of worship and an ability to make it harder for federal agents to find undocumented immigrants.

Under federal law, locations like churches and synagogues are technically public spaces that authorities could enter to conduct law enforcement actions. In 2011, the Department of Homeland Security instituted a policy limiting ICE action at religious locations. The policy ordered ICE to not enter "sensitive locations" like schools and institutions of worship.

Religious leaders in Los Angeles that spoke to CNN are skeptical whether that policy will stand under a Trump presidency.

"There's a difference between someone knocking on your door at the church who's a federal agent and someone knocking on the door of your home, where, if they don't have a warrant, they shouldn't be entering," Hoover says.

In the hours after Trump's initial executive order on immigration, calls between religious organizers picked up, and the network rapidly grew. Hoover estimates the underground network could hide 100 undocumented people today. Soon, he believes, they could hide thousands.

Hoover points out that's a tiny fraction of the estimated one million undocumented immigrants in Los Angeles county. The network's focus would be on families fearing separation and working to keep them together by "moving into a place so that ICE can't find them," Hoover says.

"So they can stay with their families. So they can be with their husbands," Hoover says. "So they can avoid being detained and deported. Everybody talks about how families are the bedrock of our country. We believe that. Our congregations believe that."

God's law versus Trump's law

The strong current carrying the Rapid Response Team is the divergence of federal laws and the moral teachings of their religions. Hoover points to the Bible's Matthew 25, which teaches the faithful should feed the hungry and fight for those in prison.

"The God that I worship sent a person to earth in the name of Jesus who did not always get along with the authorities," Hoover explains. "I feel really convicted that I answer to God at the end of the day. That's who I'm going to see when I die."

Pastor Valiente echoes that sentiment, saying US immigration laws are broken and her church's foundation are the families.

"We're trusting in God, that he will help us and guide us to make the right decision, to have something better come out of this," Valiente says.

Valiente says she's praying President Trump's heart will grow more compassionate to the plight of undocumented immigrants.

"He needs to make immigration laws that work for our families," Valiente says.

The Jewish man offering his home as a safe house says he draws upon his religion's history during WWII. As the Nazis rounded up Jews for detention and eventual extermination, Germans resisted their government, hiding their Jewish friends and neighbors in attics and basements.

"It's hard as a Jew," he says, "not to think about both all the people who did open their doors and their homes and take risks to safeguard Jews in [a] moment when they were really vulnerable, as well as those who didn't. We'd like to be the people who did."

He's not the only one in his community feeling this way. Volunteers are flooding in to offer to help with the network at Temple Israel of Hollywood, according to Heidi Segal, the temple's vice president of social action.

Three weeks ago, Temple Israel of Hollywood began a phone bank to call lawmakers. On the day CNN visited the temple, the room was filled with volunteers.

"Our immigration resistance effort," Segal says as she shows off the room.

While the temple is not offering direct refuge at their temple for the undocumented, volunteers will escort immigrants for deportation interviews. They're also offering free legal advice and support, as well as stocking sanctuary houses with food and clothing.

"We had a really strong response immediately and as people learn, the response is just growing," Segal says.

An uneasy choice

The growing energy of the network doesn't mean the members aren't also apprehensive or fearful about the consequences. The people forming the network are not a crowd with criminal records. While there's clarity in the sanctity of family and religious calling, there's also concern about how the new Department of Justice will operate under Attorney General Jeff Sessions.

The Jewish man offering his home as a safe house says it's "certainly scary." While he's not clear on the consequences of what he's doing, or where he draws his limits, he is clear on one point.

"I think I know what the moral consequences are for me if we don't act. This isn't a moment to be standing idly by," he says. "This is a moment to be engaged and involved and I think we're seeing that across America where people are saying this isn't okay. We're not going to tolerate this and we'll have our voices heard."

Mark Krikorian, executive director of the conservative Center for Immigration Studies, says the law is clear about what these groups are intending to do.

"They're committing a felony. Harboring is a felony," Krikorian says. "Regular folks hiding people in a basement face jail time because it is ultimately a smuggling conspiracy."

Hoover, a self-professed good Midwestern-raised boy, says he's prepared for the federal consequences.

Valiente says religious leaders opposing immigration crackdowns believe one simple thing: "We're doing what we think is right."

Valiente says the last of the construction on her safe house is nearly complete. She'll house someone, she fears, as soon as next month.

Business owners stand by decision to fire protesters

They told him they wanted to participate in "A Day Without Immigrants," the nationwide day of protest. Serowski, founder of JVS Masonry in Commerce City, Colorado, said his position to them was clear:

"If you're going to stand up for what you believe in, you have to be willing to pay the price."

When Serowski's foreman and some 30 bricklayers failed to show up for work, he fired them all with no regrets, he said.

Many simply went back to work Friday. Others, including Serowski's employees, received phone calls or text messages telling them not to come back.

Several business owners and managers across the country told CNN their decision to fire protesters was not about politics or immigration. They said they are running their businesses responsibly.

'A slap in the face'

As news of the firings spread, backlash was swift. Serowski said he received phone calls throughout the weekend criticizing his decision, followed by messages of support.

Serowski stands by the decision, saying he was not motivated by politics.

"It's about work ethic," he said by phone Sunday. "They were warned: 'If you do this, you're hurting the company, and if you go against the team, you're not a member of the team.'"

His foreman told CNN affiliate KDVR that it was a cause close to his heart. He and his masonry workers know people who are afraid to leave their homes out of fear they may get arrested or deported, he said.

But Serowski said it was a slap in the face to him, the grandson of immigrants from Poland, someone who has long supported immigrant labor.

He said he's known many of his employees for nearly two decades and has always taken care of them financially, even when business was slow.

"I've gone above and beyond for these people," he said, seemingly distraught. "No one is going to dictate how my company is run."

'We don't make money'

Steve Deese, owner of Encore Boat Builders in Lexington, South Carolina, confirmed firing 21 employees who didn't show up Thursday.

Deese said they broke company policy by not giving notice and not calling in to say they would be away from work. The employees were given an opportunity to provide a doctor's note, but failed to do so, he added.

The company does not tolerate violations, no matter who the employees are, he said.

Deese's company builds boats "to make money, so when we can't build boats, we don't make money," Deese said. "We run an assembly line, and when 21 people call out, that seriously affects our operation."

Those 21 employees were replaced by new workers who are being trained.

Warned of the consequences

Robert Peal, attorney for Bradley Coatings Inc., based in Nashville, confirmed to CNN that 18 employees were terminated for failing to show up Thursday.

Peal said one of the line supervisors, an immigrant, was alerted to the possibility of the no-shows and spoke to each employee individually, warning them of consequences.

Bradley Coatings is a commercial painting company that works on tight deadlines and depends on employee attendance to meet its obligations, he said.

The company owner is a longtime supporter of immigrant causes and makes mission trips to Central America, Peal said. The company previously had donated materials and labor to one of the employees who was terminated Thursday after that worker lost his home to a fire.

Peal said it was a business decision that had nothing to do with the nature of the protests.

At the I Don't Care Bar and Grill

Bill McNally, owner of I Don't Care Bar and Grill in Catoosa, Oklahoma, said his 12 line cooks gave him no heads-up. They didn't even call to say they were not coming in.

So they were fired, just like anyone else who's a no-show for work, he said.

"I'm on their side, but we have rules at I Don't Care Bar and Grill," he said. "If you're going to be late, call in. If you're not coming to work, call us. That's the American way."

News of the firings sparked criticism and heated debate on the restaurant's Facebook page.

Beneath a job posting to replace the fired employees, some customers vowed to never return to the restaurant. Others stood by the restaurant, saying the workers deserved to be fired for not showing up.

As one critic of the decision wrote, addressing the business, "You missed the larger picture. What you fired were not employees who did not show up. You fired employees who are willing to fight for their principles and yours. Because when one group of people is harassed the next group may be yours."

And, as someone else noted in response, "The larger picture: Those who stand with lawbreakers and condone lawbreaking need to suffer consequences for their actions."

Six of the fired Hispanic immigrant workers told CNN affiliate KTUL they felt they had been unfairly terminated. They wanted to stand in solidarity with other immigrants, they said through a translator. They didn't think it would cost them their jobs.

Under US labor law, at-will workers can be fired with no warning and without a stated reason.

McNally also said his action had nothing to do with politics. Had he known about the protests, he said he would have closed the restaurant in solidarity.

Why fire them, then?

"They just forgot about the 50 other people who work here," he said. "If the cooks don't show up, then servers don't have jobs, and customers can't eat."

Not so fast in New York

A restaurant owner in New York disputed local media reports that he similarly had fired a group of protest participants. The owner of Ben's Kosher Delicatessen Restaurant & Caterers disputed the story and said he is a longtime supporter of minority rights.

Ronnie Dragoon, of Ben's Kosher Delicatessen, said he fired just one employee -- and only because that worker pressured others to walk out and physically threatened two of them.

"All other employees involved with the walkout were, and still are, invited to return to their positions with the company," the local restaurant chain said.

Added Dragoon, "And yes, I am the grandchild of immigrants, and I have been a progressive my entire life and will continue to be a progressive."

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