NEW YORK (RNS) — As United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement has intensified activity across New York City, faith-based shelters, food assistance programs and spaces intended to be safe for immigrants are quietly adjusting how they operate. Though ICE has not yet raided a religious institution in the city, staff and clergy said the risk seems urgent.
Some are weighing legal protocols, scaling back services and preparing for the worst, they told RNS.
In April, 206 people — referred to as “illegal aliens” by ICE — were arrested during a five-day sweep across the New York metro area. Last month, two men were arrested in the parking lot of a Southern California Catholic church, which led the bishop to lift the Sunday Mass obligation for those afraid to attend service.
Since President Donald Trump began his second term in January, immigration arrests have increased across the country and more than doubled in 38 states.
Since January, Imam Musa Kabba has reconsidered operations at Masjid-Ar-Rahmah, the Bronx mosque he has led since 1999. For years, the mosque served food daily and stayed open late into the night, functioning as both a house of prayer and safe gathering place for newly arrived immigrants. Now, fearing ICE visibility, the doors close daily at 9 p.m., and food is only offered on weekends, he said.
“We tell migrants to slow down and not to come to the center all the time,” Kabba said. “Or if they come, they should not stay long, like many used to.”
ICE has said it focuses on arresting individuals with prior deportation orders or criminal records and that its actions are targeted. However, according to NPR reporting, at least 56,000 immigrants were being held in ICE detention as of early July, and about half do not have crimin …