The Trump administration’s crackdown on migrants, including a new Department of Homeland Security policy giving immigration authorities permission to enter places of worship, schools, and healthcare facilities to conduct arrests, has led many churches to ask what they should do in case Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers show up at their doors.

The Southern New England Conference can offer the following guidance thus far:

• • • Churches should make a plan NOW as to how to respond to ICE at the church. The plan should include training of workers/volunteers who are likely to be at the church and include an analysis of the church’s private and public areas. It should also include some practice at role-playing, because it is difficult to say “no” when faced with authority figures in police gear.
    • Church workers should know that ICE cannot go into the private areas of a church without a judicial warrant (different from an administrative warrant).
    • Church workers should know that no one is required to talk to ICE.
    • Churches should connect with local immigration advocacy groups, solidarity movements and legal resources who can be called upon if needed…

  This Downloadable PDF may be helpful: