As the Trump administration claims ‘anti-Christian bias’ under Biden, activists and mainline Protestant denominations are pushing back against ‘church invasions by ICE.’
For years, the Rev. Eduardo Fabian Arias, a Lutheran pastor in Manhattan, has ministered to immigrants. Now, much of his work takes place inside and around Federal Plaza immigration court in Midtown Manhattan.
A surveillance incident at a Baptist church particularly raises questions since the congregation’s building is covered by a federal injunction blocking warrantless DHS actions there.
'It's a sign that they are really scared they're gonna lose this seat,' the Rev. Sarah Trone Garriott, a Lutheran pastor running for Congress in Iowa, said. She is part of a wave of religious figures running as Democrats for congressional seats.
The Reformed Church in America is the latest group to speak out against the ideology, with regional United Methodist bodies and two Presbyterian denominations among those also addressing the issue this summer.
In the last week, faith leaders were offered some of their first glimpses into ICE facilities, making use of a degree of access denied to most people — even members of Congress.
Not since the Civil Rights Era has the religious left so publicly and collaboratively protested in the name of a social question they regard as a spiritual one.
'This is one important step in our struggle for justice and my call to live out Jesus’s command to care for the captives,' said the Rev. Susie Hayward, who is cited in the legal case and was in court for the ruling.