Holy Resistance
By Tiffany Hearsey
“It felt like a complete desecration of our space,” Pastor Tonya Lopez recalled of the day armed immigration officers arrested a man in the parking lot of Downey Memorial Christian Church. The Pastor recorded the scene and communicated with the man in Spanish. She asked him what his name was and if there was anyone she could call on his behalf. She also spoke to the masked officers who arrested him. She told them, “You don’t have permission to be here.” One of the officers said: “The whole country is our property. We can go wherever we want.”
The Trump administration’s immigration raids have spread across the nation. A profane mass deportation campaign led by the Department of Homeland Security, the officer recruitment strategy has in part been framed as a holy mandate against so-called violent criminals. Though the majority of those arrested do not have a criminal record, the Trump administration has violated numerous constitutional rights including the right to due process and unlawful detention as well as the constitutional right to worship freely.
Trump also ended a 30-year policy that banned immigration agencies from conducting enforcement operations in ‘sensitive locations’ such as churches. In response, a growing movement of faith leaders are speaking out and providing support and spiritual care to immigrant communities.
“God’s call to love, mercy, and do justice is at the core of scripture,” said the Rev. Dr. Alexia Salvatierra, Academic Dean for Centro Latino and Associate Professor of Mission and Global Transformation at Fuller Seminary.
This is especially pertinent to the numerous scriptures that “call us to welcome the stranger,” the Reverend said. Jesus’ teachings directly reference the ‘stranger,’ the immigrant, in a foreign land. Mathew 25:35-40 exemplifies these teachings, “When I was hungry, you fed me. When I was thirsty, you gave me water. When I was a stranger, you invited me in.”
Faith leaders in Los Angeles, home to the largest population of undocumented immigrants, are protesting outside detention centers, sponsoring immigrants facing deportation, providing court support, and feeding families impacted by the raids. Pastor Kevin Kang of United Methodist Church in Tujunga and Crescenta Valley, said of his fellow clergy and faith leaders, “I believe we need to stand up for the marginalized.” The Pastor has been out on the streets attending protests and vigils and through his church, sponsoring refugees fighting deportation. He also emphasized the hypocrisy of the Trump administration targeting immigrants. “We’re a nation of foreigners who were not originally native to this land. We stole it from the people living here,” he said. “Who are we to create these walls and tell other people they can’t live here if we were the ones who also stole it?” Reflecting on his role as clergy, Pastor Kang said, “I see myself as someone who stands behind the people.”
Since witnessing the arrest of the man on her church’s property, Pastor Lopez has been providing direct spiritual care and support to her congregation as well as individuals and families impacted by arrest and detention. Downey Memorial Christian Church provides prayer services in English and Spanish as well as food donations to impacted individuals and families. She also conducts home visits to pray with families who fear ICE raids at the church and acts as court support for immigrants going to their immigration hearings.
“That’s my call as a pastor right now. I need to be out there and not just witnessing what’s happening,” Pastor Lopez said. “That’s how we build hope. And that’s also how we infuse a sense of hope back into the people that are feeling powerless.”