“Hear us oh God for our siblings across this land who are in fear and trembling even at this moment and hour, for the young folk that are not in schools because they are afraid today, for the people that can’t go to their jobs to provide for their families because they are afraid today,” he said, eyes closed. “God, for the folk that are afraid to answer their doors because they’re not sure who is knocking. God, we pray that people of faith and moral courage will go stand in the gap.”
Bishop Dwayne Royster, addressing a group of clergy yesterday, who brought a letter about ICE to Speaker of the House Mike Johnson in Washington DC
Dear friends,
Today we write with heavy hearts about the impact of ICE action on children.
Many of you may have woken up today haunted, like us, by the image of 5-year old Liam Conejo Ramos who was detained by ICE, used as bait to lure family members out of his house, and is now thought to be in a detention center in Texas. Officials from Liam’s school district in Columbia Heights Minnesota said their “sense of security is shaken and their hearts shattered” since a total of four students in their district have been taken.
In upsetting video and photos from South Minneapolis, federal agents detain two teenagers from a vehicle. MPR news reports that the teenagers are minors and that the agents appear to have rear-ended their car. And you may have seen this heartbreaking short video of a twelve year old child sharing how he’s been bullied with anti-immigrant harassment and threats of deportation, though he was born in the United States.
As Maine becomes the focus of the next immigration enforcement surge, with nearly 50 arrests so far, we are hearing the same impact on children: families are sheltering in place and many students are staying home from school. Black communities and African immigrants are under particular threat. A mother of four, Micheline Ntumba, who is reported to be from the Democratic Republic of the Congo with a pending asylum application, was arrested in front of her children in Portland, ME yesterday. We cannot begin to comprehend the fear of these children or the anguish of their parents and caregivers.
And – we know that violence against children is not new. Family separation has been the law of the land in America in far too many dark chapters of our history – from Indigenous boarding schools to chattel slavery. The targeting of children and the separation of children from their families, even when made legal by one government or another, is absolutely against the will of God, our Creator.
In the Bible, we hear the story of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph fleeing into Egypt to escape King Herod, who ordered the killing of all the children in and around Bethlehem who were two years old or under (Matthew 2:13-18). This threat of mass political violence against children led to Jesus himself becoming an immigrant, a refugee seeking safety.
And later in Matthew, an adult Jesus teaches his disciples… “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever becomes humble like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me.” (Matthew 18:1-5).
What do we do? We find ways to stand in the gap. We proclaim loudly that the children are ours, every single one of them. And we join in prayer and action:
- This Friday, January 23rd, please fast and pray in solidarity with all people impacted by ICE. And please consider participating, as you are able, with the ICE Out of Minnesota Day of Truth and Freedom by staying home from work, school, and/or shopping, and instead participating in community, conscience, and collective action.
- Join us for a Zoom call on Sunday to join in prayer and share calls-to-action – Updates + Online Prayer Vigil for Minneapolis, Sunday January 25th at 5:30 PM Central Time.
- Share this prayer with your community and consider praying it during your Saturday or Sunday service
- Donate here: dismantlediscovery.org/donate (mark your donation with “Minnesota” from the dropdown menu).
