As large crowds chanted “ICE out now” in sub-zero temperatures in downtown Minneapolis and surrounding neighborhoods last weekend, clergy and church leaders from across the country worked shoulder-to-shoulder beside residents and activists to protest federal immigration enforcement actions and provide spiritual, logistical, and moral support to the community.
Responding to a call from the Minnesota-based Multifaith Antiracism, Change & Healing (MARCH) coalition, more than 600 people – Christians, Jews, Buddhists, Muslims, Indigenous practitioners – joined local residents in Minneapolis, ground zero of the Trump administration’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement crackdown. They marched, prayed, documented ICE activity and offered a highly visible religious presence intended to underscore moral objections to the federal tactics.
The gathering was not a one-time event, according to the thank-you letter on the MARCH website. Rather, the letter states, it was “an initial act of collective responsibility—rooted in relationship, spiritual grounding, and commitment to communities facing heightened harm and scrutiny in this moment.”
“Do Justice. Love Kindness. Abolish ICE”
Rabbi Marc Israel of Rockville, Maryland, was among the faith leaders who arrived in Minneapolis to join the protests…