‘We stand with our immigrant brothers and sisters!’
Office of Public Witness issues a faithful response to the ICE raids in Los Angeles

The president has issued false statements justifying the actions of his administration by inaccurate charges of invasion and foreign incursion. The use of the military against American citizens to invade cities and suppress dissent has dangerous implications for the nation’s democratic government as well as being a danger to peaceful protesters.

Federal troops have been deployed without the consent of local or state authorities who call upon the president to reverse course. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has conducted raids across the nation with the current crisis in Los Angeles being the climax. Immigrants are being kidnapped from homes, workplaces, schools, and off the streets. The threat is to invade the sanctity of churches next.
Those who have traveled into this country have risked much, and lost even more, in order to seek a better life. Immigrants to this land desire to enter legally, access status, and seek a path to citizenship. But the questions must be asked, “How can they enter legally into a country that has disavowed its own laws to grant asylum to those facing persecution? How can a person from another nation seek a path to citizenship when no such option exists? How can immigrants follow their legal cases when they are arrested at courthouses, stripped of their rights of due process, and ripped from their families?”
The American story consists of the interactions between the original inhabitants of this land, Indigenous people; enslaved Africans brought here by force; and other immigrants who migrated looking for a better life. The engagements resulted in violent confrontations, with people of color finding themselves subjugated, segregated, and deemed inferior by church and state. We are witnessing and experiencing once again the use of force and violence against those deemed unworthy.
Our history has been marked by violence and volatility, yet it has brought us to our current declaration that we are one nation — not a perfect nation, but one in our determination that democracy must survive. Our history has taught us one important lesson: progress for equality and dignity is achieved through protest. Our nation cannot consist of a limited few having full rights and acceptance; all must find welcome. There will be no nation if there is not room for all. There will be no peace, if all are not granted inclusion and the full dignity of personhood. And to achieve this, there must be resistance to discrimination and oppression.
Fortunately, American citizens have said, “Enough!” and have come out in peaceful protest against the unjust actions of this administration. The American people are taking a courageous stand on the principles of democracy, peaceful protest, and saying “No!” But more importantly, on what is right and just before God.
Presbyterians are called to a response due to our history of speaking against government overreach. We have a long history of calling for resistance to any laws or commands that contradict God’s word. Our policy reflects this belief as for centuries we have maintained the belief in being lawful citizens but have also acknowledged that there comes a time for resistance against tyranny. Our policy statement, “Honest Patriotism,” supplies theological and contextual grounding: “The 223rd General Assembly (2018) acts to lift up our church’s long commitments to active civic engagement, responsible citizenship, and prophetic witness; believing these commitments to be rooted in our faithful response to God’s call for Christians to be stewards of creation; and witnessing the corrosion of democratic institutions.”
The witness of the church has manifested as many, diverse PC(USA) Presbyterians, members and leaders in all expressions of the denomination, including General Assembly agency staff, have spoken out against federal overreach. We unequivocally condemn the separation of families and the unlawful deportation of fathers, mothers, and children. We condemn the use of the National Guard and Marines on the streets of L.A. as if we were at war. We have rallied with our ecumenical siblings in a series of rallies sponsored by Repairers of the Breach and Sojourners.
Therefore, we call Presbyterians to steadfast prayer. Everything we do as people of faith begins and ends with prayer. God is the ultimate deliverer of justice and calls us to join in God’s bringing about the Beloved Community. We seek to discern God’s will for the nation and to ask for peaceful and diplomatic solutions to our problems.
We call Presbyterians to disciples in action by:
- Participating in peaceful protest by joining rallies, marches, petitions, lawsuits; lobbying legislators and other actions of justice advocacy all around us.
- Connecting with the advocacy offices (Washington Office of Public Witness and the Presbyterian Ministry at the United Nations) to be updated on what’s happening in the nation’s capital and United Nations and ways you can engage.
- Joining local efforts to raise a prophetic voice as almost every community is increasing its activity. Write letters to your local newspapers and utilize social media to decry the oppression occurring. Support local institutions (schools, churches, immigrant centers) that are under attack.
- Calling upon military leaders to make a moral decision to refuse to comply with immoral, and even unlawful, orders from a commander-in-chief who has no regard for legality or morality.
- Contacting your state and national representatives and tell your story as it relates to justice for immigrants. Share your faith and passion that America is a land that treats all with fairness and consistent kindness. Urge that they be courageous in their defense of the nation’s core values to respect dissent and respect the dignity of all persons.
We call upon you to exercise your freedom of conscience. You have the freedom to decide how God is leading you to stand during this period of political and societal chaos. The choice is not whether we will defend our democracy and our immigrant brothers and sisters, but how. Each one of us must choose to stand with those whose rights are being trampled upon by persons who respect only those they consider worthy.
This is not the way of our God who is impartial and just toward all, a God who left us the timeless charge in scripture to defend the stranger, the foreigner, the migrant, the immigrant and the refugee. “When a stranger sojourns with you in your land, you shall not do him wrong. You shall treat the stranger who sojourns with you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.” (Genesis 18:2, 19:1; Exodus 12:49, 22:21, 23:9; Leviticus 19:9-10, 33-34, 23:22, 24:22, 25:35-38; Numbers 9:14, 15:16; Deuteronomy 1:16, 10:18-19, 23:7, 24:14,19-21, 26:5,12-13, 27:19; Job 31:32; Psalm 146:9; Proverbs 5:10; Jeremiah 7:5-7, 22:3; Ezekiel 22:29, 47:22-23, Malachi 3:5; Matthew 25:31-46, 22:29; Luke 10:25-37; Hebrews 13:1-2).
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