A protest by about three dozen individuals disrupted a Sunday service at the Cities Church in St. Paul, Minnesota, where one of the pastors, David Easterwood, serves as the local field office leader for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
The protesters chanted slogans like “ICE out” as they approached the pulpit, causing the church service to end prematurely. The demonstration comes on the heels of heightened immigration enforcement actions under the Biden administration, stirring significant tensions in the community.
In the wake of the incident, faith leaders have called for a reaffirmation of the sanctity of worship spaces. Trey Turner, head of the Minnesota-Wisconsin Baptist Convention, stated, “We must stand firm for the sanctity of our houses of worship.”
In their protests, some activists expressed their outrage over the fatal shooting of a young woman by an ICE agent earlier this year, underscoring the divide within the Christian community on immigration enforcement.
Despite the disruption, Kevin Ezell of the North American Mission Board criticized the actions of the protesters as harassment, emphasizing that no cause justifies the intimidation of families worshipping peacefully.
As the U.S. Department of Justice investigates potential civil rights violations stemming from this incident, the broader implications for immigration policy and religious freedoms continue to unfold amid an increasingly polarized public discourse on these issues.
