Bundled in a warm jacket and gloves, a laminated paper sign hanging from his neck, Al Nodarse stood among a sea of faith leaders and congregants outside the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in the South Waterfront holding a small battery-powered candle. The sign bore the name of his close friend, Danny Quach, who is currently detained by ICE.
As the holiday season begins, Nodarse — like many gathered — said he has felt the weight of heightened immigration enforcement and the tension surrounding ICE’s presence in Portland. Monday’s vigil took the form of a Blue Christmas service, a tradition meant to offer space for grief and heaviness during a time typically associated with joy.
“Blue Christmas allows us to hold space in the holiday season for grief and lament and anxiety and fear,” said the Rev. Heather Hellman, pastor at Multnomah Presbyterian Church in Southwest Portland. “That tradition just seemed to fit well for the atmosphere of protest of what is happening with ICE right now and the trauma that Portland is experiencing.”
More than 75 faith leaders and congregation members gathered to participate in the service, meeting at Elizabeth Caruthers Park before walking to the ICE facility together. In the alleyway between the ICE facility and storage center next door, organizers held a short service consisting of prayers, carols and scripture readings.
“I think a lot of the folks that are being detained — I can speak for the Latino community — most of them are people of faith,” Nodarse said. “We want them to know that they are being heard, that we are thinking about them, that we are praying for them.”…