CCDA Immigration Network Resources, Feb 2025

prepared by Christian Community Development Association
 

Includes the following:

• Prayer & Music

• Know Your Rights

• Resources for Families & Communities

• Community Protection Strategies & Resources

• Upcoming Training & Events

• Sign Ons

• Executive Order Resources

• Birthright Citizenship

• Expanding Expedited Removal

• Enforcement & Detention EOs

• Additional Resources

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What to Do If ICE Comes to Your Church

Heather Kimmel, UCC General Counsel, shared some advice regarding how to respond if Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents show up at your church. Her advice includes:

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• Churches should make a plan NOW as to how to respond to ICE at the church.

• The plan must include training of workers/volunteers who are likely to be at the church and must include an analysis of the church's private and public areas. 

• It should also include some practice at role-playing, because saying "no" to big guys dressed in police gear is hard.

• ICE cannot go into the private areas of a church without a judicial warrant (different from administrative warrant). No one is required to talk to ICE.

• Churches should hire a local immigrant advocacy group to do a training on how to respond to ICE. I would start by contacting the local ACLU office if the church cannot identify a suitable organization. 

• Churches should identify an immigration attorney NOW who can be called by workers/volunteers if ICE shows up.

• This document may be helpful to begin: National Immigration Law Center: What To Do If Immigration Comes To Your Workplace

 

Furthermore, Heather addresses the distinction between "public space" vs. "private space."

"This is a 'facts and circumstances' inquiry that will be different for each church and it depends on how each church uses its building and invites the public in. If a church has an unlocked door and a lobby that is accessible to the public generally, that's likely a public space. Offices that are marked private are likely private. But attempts to mark everything private when it is actually public (i.e. putting private signs on a church's front door when it is generally unlocked/open or marking parking lots private when there's no way to stop anyone from driving in) aren't going to be helpful. If a space cannot be entered by the public without being accompanied by a church worker, those are probably private spaces. Bear in mind that the designation of a space as public or private is not magic and won't automatically keep ICE out if they have a judicial warrant covering the space or decide to enter without a warrant. In the latter event, the public/private space argument will most likely be made in court, after the fact . . . if the case gets to a courtroom."

She also shared a resource from the National Immigration Law Center with specific advice about public/private spaces and recommendations by sector (school, church, etc.)

Heather's webinar with the Insurance Board, "Sanctuary: Legal Considerations for Faith Communities," originally aired on January 16 and the recording is available to watch HERE.

Conference Minister David Popham would add one further bit of advice: If your church is engaged in immigration ministries and you believe your church is being surveyed by ICE, please inform the Conference Office so that we may track such incidents.