Bishop John Harvey Taylor of the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles prays at the end of a June 10 rally against raids on immigrant communities. Photo: Joanne Leslie
[The Episcopal News] Peacefully protesting ICE raids roiling Los Angeles, a downtown interfaith vigil drew an estimated 1,000 attendees — including dozens of clergy and Mayor Karen Bass – and closed with a prayer by Episcopal Bishop John Harvey Taylor.
“Holy God, Ice-T said it best. Ice-T said, ‘Los Angeles is a microcosm of the United States. If L.A. falls, the country falls,’” Taylor told the June 10 assembly in downtown’s Grand Park, eliciting applause and cheers. “So we’re here tonight to lift up our city on a cloud of prayer. Multicultural, polylingual, pluralistic – Los Angeles is America the beautiful. The most American city of them all, and by your grace, it will not fall. We’re here tonight to beseech you to lift the city of angels on the wings of angels.”
“[W]e pledge to be peaceful witnesses,” Taylor continued, following Mayor Bass, Roman Catholic Archbishop José Gomez, and some 10 other faith leaders in praying for non-violence and an end to ICE raids. “We can resist unjust authority without lifting a hand against our neighbor. These federal troops coming to Los Angeles – God, you know the mayor had it under control. But it’s not the soldiers’ and Marines’ fault. It wasn’t their idea. They’re not our enemies. They are brave United States volunteers … And we beseech you to still the hand of anyone tempted to use violence against those who protest peacefully.”
Mayor Bass, before offering a prayer, decried federal actions that are creating fear in families. “As I look out at this crowd, this represents the beauty of our city; everywhere, everybody represented, everybody standing together. We stand together and our message is to stop the raids. … We cannot accept the uncertainty that has been created in this environment here today led by the leadership in Washington D.C.”
Taylor’s prayer preceded remarks from Los Angeles Rabbi Susan Goldberg of Nefesh, a progressive Jewish congregation that worships weekly on the Echo Park campus where the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles is headquartered. Goldberg then led a blocks-long procession of vigil attendees, reaching the nearby federal building before an 8 p.m. Civic Center curfew was enforced. (See L.A. Times report here.)
Taylor continued: “God of mercy, we’re also going tell the story of our neighbors who are undocumented workers – our friends being taken from their places of honest labor, ripped from the arms of their families and churches. Thirteen million of them nationwide, paying their taxes, caring for those they love, part of the foundation of the United States economy.”
One such first-hand story was recounted by Yurien Contreras, whose father, Mario Romero, is among those detained by ICE on June 6 and unable to communicate with his family. “I’m here today on behalf of my father and the dozens of workers who should be released to their families,” she said. “My siblings – ranging in age from four months to 20 years – and I need our father back, especially my four-year-old brother who suffers from a disability.
Members of faith groups gather in L.A.’s Grand Park to protest current roundups of immigrants. Bishop John Harvey Taylor, at center, delivers a final prayer. Photo: Screenshot
“What happened that day was a very traumatic experience, watching my father being taken away, chained by the hands, feet, and waist, and unable to do anything,” Contreras said. “It was a very traumatic experience that affected us emotionally and physically. My family and I haven’t been able to communicate with my father.
“What happened was an injustice,” Contreras said. “They [ICE] simply arrived at their workplace and kidnapped dozens of workers. … I want my father back. I want the workers to return to their families. We demand the release of all workers now! We call on all elected officials … to step up and defend L.A.’s status as a sanctuary city by prohibiting any collaboration or protection of ICE by local law enforcement, show up in detention centers and pressure for oversight to protect the rights and due process of those kidnapped, follow the cases of all of those detained during the racist raids and ensure they have access to all the resources that Angelenos have worked hard to provide.”
Organized by L.A. Voice and PICO California in partnership with other community and faith groups, including the Episcopal diocese, the vigil was moderated by Jesuit priest Brendan Busse of Dolores Mission and opened with an invocation by Father Greg Boyle, the Jesuit founder of L.A.’s Homeboy Industries, a nonprofit specializing in rehabilitation of former gang members.
Rabbi Sharon Brous of L.A.’s IKAR congregation called vigil-goers to the physicality of using their bodies to stand up to oppression, much as people of Jewish faith and heritage have done historically. “We will not answer violence with violence,” she said, drawing comparisons between the Trump administration and the “authoritarian” Pharaoh who oppressed Jews in biblical times.
Aziza Hassan, co-director of NewGround: A Muslim-Jewish Partnership for Change, offered her prayer as a faith leader “and a Muslim mother… to open our hearts to one another. … Children belong in the arms of their caretakers. … Let us not swerve from justice. … In the words of the Holy Koran, don’t let hatred lead you to be unjust.”
Angelica Salas, executive director of the Coalition for Human Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles (CHIRLA) spoke next, expressing gratitude to local rapid response networks “who’ve stood up in this moment.” Her remarks were followed by the “We Who Believe in Freedom” chorus of “Ella’s Song,” led by Aquilina Soriano Versoza, executive director of the local Filipino Worker Center.
Sikh leader Valarie Kaur offered a riveting reflection on the resilience of her immigrant grandparents in California’s Central Valley, describing them as “sage warriors who put their love into action.”
“We’ve all become sage warriors,” Kaur said, assuring the affected families that “We’ll make our bodies a shield for you.”
Mercedes Nava of the Community Coalition recounted in Spanish, through an interpreter, her experience of sitting at a local bus-stop and watching the arrest of two young women. “They could be my children, my nieces; maybe another truck is coming for the rest of us. I’m here for my children, their children, and all children. We will be brave because Jesus walks in front of us and will give us our victory. Parents and grandparents, our children will not see us as cowards, but as brave.”
The Rev. Carlos Rincon, pastor of El Centro de Vida Victoriosa, added remarks in Spanish, noting “our strength in solidarity” and affirming the role of youth leaders in protesting injustice.
The Rev. Najuma Smith, founding pastor of L.A.’s Word of Encouragement Church, led a rousing call-and-response; “We are here in the right place and the right time.”
Vigil organizers Joseph Tomás McKellar, executive director of PICO California, and the Rev. Zach Hoover, executive director of L.A. Voice, pledged ongoing advocacy and action, preceding the closing prayer by Taylor, who since being elected bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles in 2016 has advocated extensively for comprehensive reform of federal immigration policy.
“We’re going to sound the trumpet of truth, gracious God,” the bishop said. “These workers are members of our congregations, temples, mosques, and fellowships. We’re going to lift them up by telling their stories and by proclaiming that the time has come, after a century of arguments, for our politicians to regularize their status while restoring to their families and neighborhoods every soul that has been taken in these cruel workplace raids.”
Among the 44 people arrested in June 6 ICE raids were 14 church members whose defense is being aided by Sacred Resistance, the diocesan immigration justice ministry.
In a June 8 letter to the diocese, Sacred Resistance leaders wrote: “On Friday, June 6, 14 beloved members of our church family were unjustly detained as part of the raids that wreaked havoc and terror throughout Los Angeles communities, targeting working-class, immigrant families at work, school, and home. These actions, and the level of militarization involved, are unconscionable and we condemn them entirely.
“The church members detained, as far as we know, have been quickly transferred to various detention centers in Southern California. While we gather more details about their whereabouts and condition, we are in desperate need of funds to ensure that we can secure rapid and adequate legal representation for all impacted. We ask that you make a donation to our Sacred Resistance Fund managed through St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church in Hollywood. You can make a donation via PayPal or Venmo @ststephenshollywood.”
Concluding his prayer at the vigil, Taylor said: “When our politics reward cruelty, we will lift up love. When people talk about the separation of church and state, we’ll get out the Bill of Rights, we’ll point to the First Amendment, and we’ll proclaim that there shall be no separation of church and state until powers and principalities, kings and presidents, obey the divine law of love.
“By your grace, gracious God, Los Angeles will not fall. Los Angeles will rise. And by its example, Los Angeles will help draw this whole land closer and closer to the gates of your kingdom of justice and love. Amen.”