How three Syracuse churches are supporting immigrants amidst ICE presence

All Saints Parish established its Refugee Welcoming Task Force in 2017 with the goal of serving the needs of the Catholic Church’s considerable immigrant and refugee population, which mostly consists of people coming from Rwanda, Congo and the Central African Republic.

The Rev. Fredrick Daley, the pastor at All Saints, said that their Catholic faith calls the congregation to be engaged with present-day issues.

“We are talking all the time about how we have the gospel in one hand and we have the New York Times in the other hand. We read the signs of the times through the lenses of the gospel,” Daley said. 

Since the beginning of President Trump’s second term, ICE has arrested an estimated 230,000 people inside the country, according to a report published on Jan. 17 by The New York Times.

All Saints witnessed an ICE incident firsthand when two parishioners, Jose Criollo and Adrian Ramirez, were detained on Jan. 16. Due to the efforts of the congregation, Criollo was released on bond on Jan. 31.

As ICE has become more present across the country, the Refugee Welcoming Task Force has adapted, offering more programming to the community, Daley said.

All Saints participated in a recent Ash Wednesday service outside of an ICE field office in Mattydale. Around 50 churchgoers participated in the “peaceful gathering.”

The task force is made up entirely of volunteers, each with various professional skillsets. They help immigrants and asylum seekers with all sorts of activities: filing paperwork, applying for green cards, communicating with the government, finding schools, working with landlords, and transportation to immigration appointments.

Like All Saints, University United Methodist Church has a significant immigrant population. The Church’s primary ministries help immigrants and refugees fulfill basic needs.

The church offers a clothing room that is open on Thursdays and Sundays and an emergency food distribution program on Fridays. While these services are open to anyone, they often draw in many immigrants and refugees, University UMC pastor Aaron Carlson said.

“It’s really neat to see because we have immigrants who come in who don’t know the language very well, and so we’ve all got our cellphones out,” he said. “We’re all using translators to try and communicate with each other and help each other out.”

While refugee ministry was a common issue for some Christian churches to take up before ICE arrests increased, one thing has changed. 

Immigrants and refugees are more fearful, according to Daley and Carlson.

At Plymouth Congregational, a member of the United Church of Christ, the congregation has formed a pact: If ICE agents come into a service and ask for information about a member, members will remain silent. 

“I think the pall of fear is bigger than just uncertainty that hangs over everybody,” said Rev. Craig French, the pastor at Plymouth Congregational. “There’s a sense of outrage, a sense of injustice.”

All Saints, Plymouth Congregational and University United Methodist are all part of the Sanctuary Church Coalition. They have declared themselves to be a welcoming place for immigrants and refugees and are prepared to offer support to anyone who needs it.

University United Methodist has hired security in case ICE comes into a worship service. The church has also hung “private” signs on its doors.

“ICE has produced a real fear in people, and so it’s having to really navigate through those types of waters and providing that steady presence of faithfulness for people so that they know they can trust us,” Carlson said.

Plymouth Congregational has signaled it is a welcoming church to immigrants. Every Sunday, the community reads the names of people who have been shot by ICE in the past month and who have died in ICE custody in the past year.

Daley said immigrants and refugees teach the All Saints community about “deep faith, even in the midst of great suffering.”

At University United Methodist, African immigrants have shared their culture with the congregation.  University UMC holds a worship service in Swahili with African hymns on Sundays at 1 p.m. 

“What I love about this particular congregation is, you look out, and it’s like the kingdom of God,” Carlson said. “There’s so much diversity.”

French said the Bible motivates him to minister to immigrant and refugee communities.

“It’s about a deep understanding and commitment to the words of faith and the vision of God,” he said.

Daley referenced Catholic Social Teaching, a certain part of Catholic theology, which teaches that people who are marginalized have a dignity and right to basic necessities, he said. 

“Catholic Social Teaching is that we’re called to be involved in the issues of our day that affect our sisters and brothers. So that’s political,” Daley said.