WASHINGTON (RNS) — Less than a day after President Donald Trump defended his mass deportation campaign during his State of the Union address, more than a thousand United Methodists and their allies rallied outside the U.S. Capitol, calling on Congress to abolish Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection.
“We demand that ICE and CBP be dismantled,” said retired United Methodist Bishop Minerva Garza Carcaño at the rally. “We demand that ICE and CBP be defunded.”
That demand was underscored by speaker Rep. Shri Thanedar, who last month introduced the Abolish ICE Act. In addition to Thanedar, who is Hindu and an immigrant from India, Democratic Reps. Mary Gay Scanlon and Delia Ramirez both spoke, and the two drew on Christian rhetoric, with Scanlon telling attendees to be “salt and light” and Ramirez quoting from St. Francis of Assisi’s prayer for peace.
“When universities, and legacy media and law firms and corporations have failed to meet the moment, our faith communities have stepped up,” said Scanlon.
Ramirez, a United Methodist, said, “God is calling us for such a time as this — to stand up for justice.” She noted that she is the lead sponsor of legislation that would ban offensive-weapons transfers to Israel and said, “What many don’t know is that that call for that work came when I went with the United Methodist Church 20 years ago to Palestine.”
The group, largely United Methodists from the East Coast, though ecumenical partners spoke from the stage, gathered for a worship service, march and outdoor rally before splitting off to speak with their congressional representatives.
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