Since the tariffs arrived, and left, and arrived, and left, the focus has been on the stock market. But at the same time students on proper visas are being arrested in schools that the administration is targeting. And the arrests of other immigrants -- with and without paperwork -- continues.
We can't stop all these arrests. Can we find the right stand to take in defense of the love our God has for immigrants?
When ICE Comes Knocking
What will you do if ICE shows up at your church?
You have three broad choices when ICE shows up. You can do whatever they ask; if they want to come in, let them in. You can let them in only if they show a legal warrant. Or you can refuse to let them into your church.
The argument for not letting them in at all is the tradition, but not law, that in hospitals, schools, and worship sites, people are safe from arrest. The idea started in the fourth century and was formalized by the previous administration's Protected Areas policy. That policy was rescinded by the current president. If your congregation's leadership chooses to keep ICE out of your space, you will be making a value statement -- that church should not be interrupted by police or other law enforcement. This would be a decision to live up to your values by choosing to ignore the law.
Perhaps the best churches to make this choice would be those that are filled mostly with white U.S. citizens. If someone is arrested, the court case would be clearly about the importance of religious institutions as safe space, and not about the legal status of your members. The Massachusetts Council of Churches have written a letter calling churches to support the concept of "sanctuary".
The middle choice is to only allow law enforcement that has a valid warrant into your spaces. There have been some problems with ICE presenting paperwork that seems like a warrant, but is not, so this path requires educating your leadership about what is in a correctly executed warrant. It should say warrant, be signed by a judge, should name the location of your church with the correct address, and show the name of the person they are seeking. You can find an article about the difference between various forms presented by ICE here. This is the completely legal approach. Which is not to suggest it cannot get someone into trouble!
To go this direction you need ushers and leadership who are willing to calmly and politely ask uniformed law enforcement to wait while you check their paperwork. This will be easier if you've spent time learning what should be included in that paperwork. Schools and workplaces that are taking this position have often designated a place where the police can go -- an office or meeting space close to the entrance -- making sure that space is comfortable and welcoming.
As a subset of this approach, your leadership team should decide if you are intentionally slowing the law enforcement staff so that immigrants or others might have a way to get out of the building or to hide. Or you might make sure the congregation knows that you are not engaging in delaying tactics. You will determine if the paper work they provide is an appropriate warrant and then let them in.
Whether or not you are delaying, if you have immigrants in your church (or people who might be mistaken to be immigrants!) you should have a conversation with congregation about your plan to follow the law. Hand out red cards (business-sized cards with a list of immigrant rights) and consider having a training session on immigrant rights. Primary in those rights are the right to remain silent, and the right to refuse to sign documents without a lawyer present. Perhaps your congregation has a lawyer who can help members, or you can keep contact information for a lawyer available for this circumstance.
Your third option is the one you are likely to use if you have not planned ahead for an ICE raid on your church. You can simply do whatever the police officer or ICE agent tells you to do. In the moment, it will feel like the safest path, although it is part of letting go of due process and law and order. But it is not easy to say no, or to question an official law enforcement officer.
The reality is that it will be frightening if ICE shows up at your church. In the planning discussions you have, you must plan for the fear you will feel if faced with this challenge.
As welcoming people we want to invite anyone who steps inside to join us for worship and bible study, heck, we even invite people to our council meetings. I suppose a form of civil disobedience would be to offer a bit of bread and a tiny cup of juice/wine rather than to ask about whether they have a warrant. If adrenaline gives you power, perhaps that is the one way to be wise as serpents and innocent as doves.
Has your leadership had discussions about what to do if ICE comes to church? Have you planned strategies to deal with this possibility? Reply to this email to let me know what's happening.
Where ICE is allowed is partly a question of what is public, and what is private space. Here is an article giving you the first steps for identifying the private spaces in your building.
The National Immigration Center is a great place to learn about why we should fight to create safe places policies in our nation.
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