(RNS) — Clergy representing over 30 Pennsylvania religious groups rallied last Thursday (April 3) outside of Philadelphia’s U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Office against President Donald Trump’s order allowing immigration arrests at houses of worship.
To make their point, the clergy built an interfaith altar at ICE’s doorstep and offered to break bread with ICE agents, appealing to their shared humanity and values.
The clergy are part of an interfaith immigrant advocacy network called New Sanctuary Movement of Philadelphia, representing Jewish, Mennonite, Catholic, Baptist and Unitarian congregations, among other faiths. They were joined by nearly 100 people.
“As Trump attempts to take away every safe space, we as the faith community stand in our moral authority to confront injustice, reclaim our sacred spaces and lift up the power of transformative love everywhere — even to the ICE office and ICE agents,” the group said on social media.
The structure for the altar was provided by Sisters of Saint Joseph’s Philadelphia parish, and it featured items of spiritual significance from various religious and cultural traditions. As attendees placed items like crosses, statues, flowers, rosaries and fruits at the altar, they were led in song by Rabbi Linda Holtzman of Philadelphia’s Tikkun Olam Chavurah, a Jewish social justice group. Holtzman placed a shofar, or a ram’s horn used for Jewish ceremonies, at the altar.
The protest was held in response to the executive order Trump signed his first day in office in January, allowing for …