The photo of his arrest during a protest against ICE has given the Chicago-area pastor a platform to share a theology that centers immigrants and that harkens back to the Sanctuary Movement of the 1980's.
The letter’s signers say they were prompted to speak out because of the damage the Trump administration’s immigration policies have done to Latino communities.
For the second time in a year, a federal judge has issued an injunction to block the Department of Homeland Security from conducting warrantless immigration enforcement actions at some houses of worship.
DHS has openly mocked the largely mainline Protestant protesters. A spokesperson referred to a minister as ‘pastor’ in air-quotes, and the agency referred to demonstrators at a faith-led protest as ‘imbecilic morons’ who needed to ‘get a job.’
An American Baptist church is just one block from where nurse Alex Pretti was executed Saturday by federal agents in the street. The church held a joint worship service the next morning elsewhere, but opened up its own building to serve those coming or leaving
The faith leaders, who hail from across the country and represent a range of religious traditions, deployed to neighborhoods with significant immigrant populations, where DHS agents have been most active.
Leaders of the American Baptist Home Mission Societies issued a statement Tuesday (Nov. 18) offering support for clergy who have been arrested while protesting ICE, including an American Baptist pastor in the Chicago area.