Churches and clergy members have long provided refuge for immigrants and asylum seekers. And as federal immigration enforcement ramps up nationwide, LA’s churches and religious leaders are organizing to rally against raids and deportations.
Guillermo Torres, immigration program director of Clergy and Laity United for Economic (CLUE) Justice, tells KCRW that faith communities are continuing to stand with immigrants, even after President Donald Trump signed an executive order stripping schools, health care facilities, and places of worship of their protected statuses.
“If Trump wants to persecute us as faith leaders, I hope they understand, this administration, that they're not only coming after us, but you're actually coming after God, and you're persecuting the church, and you're persecuting people of faith. So we are responding that this place is sacred, because sanctuary for us is beyond a building. We have more than 200 faith communities that are responding to the call to action to stand with immigrants, not only in our congregation, but we will also be standing with immigrants on the streets.”
He continues, “We will stand with the Rapid Response Network. We will confront immigration in a non-violent tradition, and we will summon the power of love to resist that inhumanity, whether it's in our churches or schools or hospitals, but also on the streets.”
