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Church v. State: Houses of Worship Are Re-Creating Support System to Protect Immigrants
This is the cover story in last week's (March 3-9, 2017) issue.
Houses of Worship Are Re-Creating a Decades-Old Support System to Protect Immigrants
"The fear is real ... They make a choice to go to the grocery store or not. They make a choice to go to the doctor or not."
Matt Cohen
Alexa Mills
Mar 2, 2017 6 AM
On the second Sunday after the inauguration of President Donald Trump, congregants at a church exactly two miles north of the White House packed their sanctuary. By the time church started, it was standing room only at All Souls Unitarian. More than 700 were in attendance, and they offered exuberant applause in response to a message they needed to hear. ... “The only way to confront a big bully,” preached the Rev. Robert M. Hardies, “is with an even bigger love.”
Fear was already thick in the neighborhood—the heart of D.C.’s Central American community. And though most All Souls members are not recent immigrants, emotions were running high. On that same Sunday, protesters were filling major airports across the nation to fight the new president’s order banning entrants from seven majority-Muslim countries. It seemed a matter of time before he would make good on his campaign promises to deport immigrants already living in the U.S.
“When it became clear that many of our neighbors would be threatened and vulnerable,” Hardies said from the pulpit, “the pastors started picking up the phone and started calling one another.” ... Those pastors, and many more, are now strategizing to protect the region’s immigrants as policies change. All Souls has hosted two meetings for congregations that want to help immigrants. Nearly 600 people from more than 150 congregations across the region attended one or both meetings. A new, local volunteer-based organization called Sanctuary DMV, staffed by experienced immigrant rights advocates, is collaborating with congregations, as is D.C.’s chapter of PICO, a national network of faith-based groups.
Some congregations are prepared to host immigrants in fear of deportation within their own buildings. Others are offering trainings for people who want to be allies—accompanying immigrants to court hearings or ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) hearings, or even rushing to the scene of an ICE raid to take video and make sure agents have a proper warrant for each person they are arresting. ... Houses of worship in D.C. have done this kind of work before. In the 1980s, several provided sanctuary for Central American refugees fleeing civil war. Right now, nearly 100,000 immigrants live in the District, and more than 11 million live in the U.S.
"The fear is real ... They make a choice to go to the grocery store or not. They make a choice to go to the doctor or not."
Matt Cohen
Alexa Mills
Mar 2, 2017 6 AM
On the second Sunday after the inauguration of President Donald Trump, congregants at a church exactly two miles north of the White House packed their sanctuary. By the time church started, it was standing room only at All Souls Unitarian. More than 700 were in attendance, and they offered exuberant applause in response to a message they needed to hear. ... “The only way to confront a big bully,” preached the Rev. Robert M. Hardies, “is with an even bigger love.”
Fear was already thick in the neighborhood—the heart of D.C.’s Central American community. And though most All Souls members are not recent immigrants, emotions were running high. On that same Sunday, protesters were filling major airports across the nation to fight the new president’s order banning entrants from seven majority-Muslim countries. It seemed a matter of time before he would make good on his campaign promises to deport immigrants already living in the U.S.
“When it became clear that many of our neighbors would be threatened and vulnerable,” Hardies said from the pulpit, “the pastors started picking up the phone and started calling one another.” ... Those pastors, and many more, are now strategizing to protect the region’s immigrants as policies change. All Souls has hosted two meetings for congregations that want to help immigrants. Nearly 600 people from more than 150 congregations across the region attended one or both meetings. A new, local volunteer-based organization called Sanctuary DMV, staffed by experienced immigrant rights advocates, is collaborating with congregations, as is D.C.’s chapter of PICO, a national network of faith-based groups.
Some congregations are prepared to host immigrants in fear of deportation within their own buildings. Others are offering trainings for people who want to be allies—accompanying immigrants to court hearings or ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) hearings, or even rushing to the scene of an ICE raid to take video and make sure agents have a proper warrant for each person they are arresting. ... Houses of worship in D.C. have done this kind of work before. In the 1980s, several provided sanctuary for Central American refugees fleeing civil war. Right now, nearly 100,000 immigrants live in the District, and more than 11 million live in the U.S.