Quick Summary
- Approximately 800 people attended a workshop on responding to ICE raids at All Saints Episcopal Church in Pasadena, California.
- Event organizers expected only 150 attendees, prompting a move to the main sanctuary.
- The Rev. Mark Chase attributed the turnout to community love and recent controversies surrounding ICE operations.
A theologically liberal California church says that hundreds of people attended its recent workshop on how to respond to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.
All Saints Church of Pasadena, an Episcopal congregation that normally has 500 to 600 Sunday worship attendees, held a “Community Patrols Training” event on Monday.
Presented by the Community Self Defense Coalition, a network of activists that patrols streets to resist federal immmigration enforcement operations, the event was billed as an opportunity for attendees to “learn how to patrol to protect their community from ICE raids.”
While event organizers initially expected no more than 150 people, approximately 800 attended. As a result, the sessions had to be moved from an auxiliary room to the main sanctuary, which can seat 1,000.
The Rev. Mark Chase, associate rector at All Saints Church and director of its Justice and Community Organizing Ministries, told The Christian Post that “a confluence of several factors” contributed to the higher-than-expected attendance, “the first of which was love.”
“This was an unmistakable sign of the love people have for their neighbors who are living in a state of terror, afraid to do the things that make daily life recognizable, such as grocery shopping, laundry, or even taking their children to school,” said Chase.
“People responded in love, which in the Christian tradition must ask the question ‘How would I want to be loved if this were me, or even better, how is my neighbor asking me to love them?’ Jesus presented those who are interested in following him a clear commandment, ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength, and love your neighbor as you would love yourself.’”
Chase also believes that another factor for the high turnout is the controversies surrounding ICE operations in Minnesota, including the high-profile deaths of Renee Good and Alex Pretti.
“The violent murders of our siblings Renee Good and Alex Pretti have forced people to wrestle with the realities of state-sanctioned violence in a way they maybe have not done before,” he told CP.
“In addition, national tragedies can often paralyze us and make us feel that nothing can be done, but this event gave folks a local outlet and a chance to meet their neighbors. When we’re gathered together locally in community, the feelings of hopelessness and despair dissipate, and are replaced with the energetic forces of love, justice, peace, hope, and unity.”
Chase hopes that attendees learned that “what is happening is not insurmountable or inevitable” and that “we can peacefully and successfully resist in communities rooted and grounded in deep love and service to one another.”
Since the beginning of his second term, President Donald Trump has ramped up immigration enforcement efforts after border encounters reached record levels under the Biden administration.
The Trump administration has argued that these law enforcement efforts are necessary, noting that many of those detained and deported have violent criminal records and close ties to narcotrafficking groups like Tren de Aragua.
Immigration enforcement efforts in Minnesota have led to over 10,000 immigrants being detained. ICE reported having arrested dozens of violent criminals in Minnesota who were in the nation illegally, including individuals convicted of child rape, sexual assault, and homicide.
However, the administration also reportedly detained refugees who were lawfully admitted to the U.S. during the Biden administration under a new program to re-interview 5,600 refugees who have not yet been given lawful permanent resident status in Minnesota, drawing concerns from the Evangelical refugee resettlement organization World Relief. A federal judge this week issued a preliminary injunction blocking the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Operation Post-Admission Refugee Reverification and Integrity Strengthening.
Chase contends that the number of people who believe the administration’s contention that ICE raids are only capturing violent criminals “is shrinking,” pointing to polling data from various outlets showing that most Americans “think ICE tactics have gone too far.”
A Siena/New York Times poll conducted last week before Pretti’s death indicates that about 61% of respondents believe ICE tactics have “gone too far.”
Earlier this week, a Fox News poll found that 59% of respondents believe ICE tactics are “too aggressive,” a 10% increase from a similar survey conducted last July.
“In Minneapolis, there are people in the streets who are theologically conservative, who are Republicans, who are veterans, and who’ve never protested before,” he said. “It might feel like a civil war is imminent, but class, racial, and even political solidarity might be just as imminent as well.”
“I would ask folks to really process whether or not there is a border crisis regarding violent criminals entering the country illegally, especially one that requires the level of force we’re witnessing with these ICE operations.”
