Rev. Patricia Fears, one of the two who organizers of the letter said she heard from five church leaders about ICE parking in their lots before arresting people.
WASHINGTON — Nineteen D.C. area religious leaders were sending a message to federal officers that have been surging into the District — Stay away from our churches.
“We recognize that as these law enforcement entities use the properties of houses of worship, they are implicating those worshipping communities in the erosion of Home Rule,” the letter reads. “Making it look like those communities of faith agree with a federal takeover, and in accord with the racial profiling and disappearance of our neighbors, family members and friends.”
Rev. Patricia Fears, among the two organizers of the letter, told WUSA Saturday that she heard from four or five church leaders about U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement parking in their lots before carrying out their arrests.
The letter, with the heading “federal law enforcement keep off our property” was organized under the banner of the Fellowship of Reconciliation-USA-DMV, the local chapter of the ecumenical and interfaith group focused on organizing religious leaders to support social justice causes.
Rev. Graylan Hagler, a senior advisor to Fellowship of Reconciliation-USA, said he began hearing reports from fellow clergy about as soon as President Donald Trump announced his plan, earlier this month, to add federal oversight to Metropolitan Police Department leadership and surge federal troops into the District.
Fears, the lead pastor of Fellowship Baptist Church, said ICE’s staging has forced clergy to rework charity events, such as food distributions, because some community members were afraid to show up.
“We’ve had to set up systems where we give out food other ways,” Fears told WUSA9, while leaving out the specifics. “I don’t want to expose what we’re doing.”
D.C. church services have also been impacted by the federal surge. According to Fears, several children from Haiti stopped showing up to services at her Baptist congregation on Colorado Avenue Northwest.
The Trump administration has justified the federal surge, claiming the federal authorities were responding to a rise in violent crime in the District. Although internal MPD statistics dispute the president’s claim.
Between Aug. 7 and Thursday, 630 total arrests have been made. According to the White House, 251 of the arrests were for people living in the United States illegally.
Army National Guard from other states have also been surging into the District at the president’s direction, with six Republican governors deploying their troops to D.C.
Among the 19 Christian leaders who signed Saturday’s letter, most were affiliated with congregations in Washington. Although two cosigners represent churches in Maryland and Virginia.
Here are the 19 clergy that signed onto Saturday’s letter:
– Rev. Graylan Scott Hagler; Plymouth United Church of Christ; senior advisor Fellowship of Reconciliation USA
– Pastor Christopher Zacharias; John Wesley African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church
– Rev. Rubin Tendai; United Church of Christ
– Rev. Patricia Fears; Fellowship Baptist Church
– Rev. Jamall Calloway; Plymouth Congregational United Church of Christ
– Rev. Lewis T. Tait; The Village
– Rev. William H. Lamar IV; Metropolitan African Methodist Episcopal Church
– Rev. Marcus Leathers; Christian Church, Disciples of Christ
– Rev. Wanda Thompson; The Ambassador Baptist Church
– Rev. Keith W. Byrd Sr.; Zion Baptist Church
– Rev. George C. Gilbert Jr.; Baptist Convention of DC and Vicinity
– Rev. Daryl Washington; DM Washington Ministries
– Rev. Kenneth King; New Hope Baptist United Church of Christ
– Rev. Kendrick Curry; Pennsylvania Avenue Baptist Church
– Rev. Clarence Cross; African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church
– Rev. Howard Finley; at-large
– Bill Mefford; The Festival Center
– Rev. Abhi Janamanchi; Cedar Lane Unitarian-Universalist Church (Bethesda, Md.)
– Rev. Darrryl LC Moch; United Church of Christ of Fredericksburg (Fredericksburg, Va.)