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Michigan cathedral hosts interfaith gathering to protest federal immigration enforcement actions

February 04, 2026

[Michigan Freedom Coalition] More than 50 Episcopal clergy joined over 200 faith leaders who gathered Feb. 4 at the Cathedral Church of St. Paul in Detroit, Michigan, to speak out against the violence and abuse of federal immigration enforcement. “We are called to welcome the stranger. To comfort the afflicted. To serve the marginalized and the vulnerable,” Michigan Bishop Bonnie A. Perry said. “Instead, [U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement] is treating God’s people with brutality and lawlessness. We must not be morally or financially complicit.” Perry emphasized that, in addition to the on-camera murders of Renee Good and Alex Pretti, seven other individuals had been killed by ICE or in immigration detention in January. In addition to Perry, speakers emphasized that the abuse suffered by immigrant communities and their defenders was enabled by ICE and U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s super-sized budget. Those agencies receievd $170 billion last year, with a request for $65 billion more in the current budget “ICE now has enough money to be the third largest military in the world, and that power is being unleashed on our own neighbors,” said the Rev. Jill Zundell, chair of the Immigration Task Force of the Michigan United Methodist Church. “They’re spending these billions on an army of hastily recruited agents and a massive system of inhumane prisons, including literal warehouses. We’re calling our senators to just say no: our tax dollars should not be paying for this.” Senate Democrats’ proposals for “reforming” ICE have fallen short, including demands for body cameras and a code of conduct, they said. “What good are body cameras? ICE is already willing to execute protestors while being filmed by whole crowds,” said Christy McGillivray, executive director of Voters Not Politicians. “What good is a code of conduct? ICE is already violating the Bill of Rights, its own use of force policy, and 100 court orders in Minneapolis, Minnesota, alone. The only way to stop them is to rip up the blank check Congress wrote to ICE.” McGillivray also pointed out that ICE is using their funding to create a database of protestors and dissidents based on film from face scanners and body cameras. “What is happening in Minneapolis is not law enforcement. It looks like an armed occupation of an American city by our own government,” Rabbi Alana Alpert, who joined an interfaith delegation to Minneapolis last week, told the group. “The constant violence against immigrant families and community members is shocking. After this, reform is not enough. We must take away the funding that allows ICE to fulfill its cruel mission.” Michigan residents are encouraged to take several actions: Join a virtual town hall meeting on Feb. 4 at 6:30 p.m. Eastern to learn how to take action locally. This includes stopping local government from helping federal immigration enforcement agencies and starting an “ICE watch.” Contact senators and demand no funding for federal immigration enforcement agencies. Participate in demonstrations against federal immigration enforcement organized through a local Indivisible chapter. Events in Michigan are planned for Feb. 7 and 8 in Royal Oak, Grand Rapids, Douglas, Houghton, Ann Arbor, Lansing, Traverse City, West Bloomfield, Grosse Pointe and other cities. Dozens more events are also planned. “All of our prayers, all of our outrage, all of our righteous words mean nothing if we continue to fund violence carried out in our name,” the Rev. Joseph C. Alsay, who will become dean of the cathedral on Feb. 7, told Episcopal News Service in a written statement. “We are not calling for open borders. We are not calling for the end of law. We are calling for an end to mass militarized enforcement inside our communities. ICE has shown again and again that it cannot be trusted with vast public funds or unchecked power.” Perry agreed. “This is about whether or not our elected officials will vote to continue to fund a mass militarized immigration enforcement that is scourging our communities,” Perry told ENS in a written statement. “As our senators consider their response to this crisis, we urge them to use the one power they have – the power of the purse. Do not pay for this – none of it.”