Dear friends,
Our hearts are with each of you and all of our Unitarian Universalist congregations and communities as you minister in this deeply upsetting and complex time. We seek to be a sanctuary, a safe harbor, in this turbulent time for all people under threat of oppression—immigrants, trans/nonbinary and intersex people, those needing reproductive care, those who are disabled, and many more. As events unfold that affect our exercise of these values, the UUA and our staff teams will be working to share more rapid response information and advisories, based on partners and experts we trust.
Advisory on Immigration Enforcement and Church Space
This week’s announcement that the new Administration is ending the previous policy which prevented immigration enforcement actions in certain places—including churches, schools, and hospitals—is of special concern to us as religious leaders. It is part of a much larger push to dramatically escalate deportations and criminalize millions of migrants and members of our communities. We know this may directly affect many of you, your families and neighbors, and we are working to provide the support you will need to live out our faith’s call for us to be a people who offer sanctuary for the body, mind, heart and spirit.
While we will be sharing more soon, right now, we want to make you aware of the factsheet linked below from the National Immigration Law Center (NILC), which describes how we can continue to serve and support everyone in our communities, and especially the most vulnerable. It gives concrete actions to take to limit access to churches by immigration enforcement. |
The NILC states:
“The rescission [of the Protected Areas Policies] is a fear tactic by the Trump administration to make immigrant communities feel less safe even in spaces that are at the heart of a civil society… All people in the United States have certain rights regardless of immigration status. However, now that the protected areas (aka ‘sensitive locations’) and courthouse memos have been rescinded, these areas no longer enjoy special protections from ICE enforcement. Instead, individuals will need to rely on basic constitutional protections in these spaces.” |
We encourage congregational leaders to read and share this resource widely among relevant members and teams in your congregation. Consider using more secure and less-public channels for sharing whenever possible, including email or encrypted messaging applications like Signal. This is a good time to pay attention to overall considerations about congregational safety, especially for those who are most vulnerable due to gender identity and ability or disability. The UUA continues to update our collection of resources at the Community Resilience Hub to help guide you in this planning.
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You can share information about your specific congregation’s needs or actions taking place in your wider community with your UUA Regional staff. As the next weeks and months unfold, you may be hearing from us more often with more information and resources that are helpful to your questions and concerns.
Warmly,
Carey McDonald UUA Executive Vice President |
