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More than 100 protesters were prepared for the worst on the morning of Dec. 16, as they geared up to chain themselves together outside of San Francisco’s immigration court, said Leif Erickson, who is the ruling elder at Palo Alto’s First Presbyterian Church.
Some wore gas masks, others wore goggles and lawyers were on standby to assist demonstrators and people who were waiting to complete immigration check-ins at 630 Sansome St.
“We knew that we were at risk for arrest,” Erickson said. “We didn’t know if they were going to use tear gas, if people were going to be brutalized.”
But for him and many others, demonstrating was not a question of politics but of faith, Erickson said.
He was one of more than a dozen Palo Alto faith leaders who participated in a protest against increased immigration enforcement. At least three were arrested after linking arms and chaining themselves together outside of the local headquarter entrances.
The Interfaith Movement for Human Integrity, a group that aims to mobilize congregations for social change, organized the protest in an attempt to shut down the office for a day, which they accomplished. Because the courthouse was closed, people who were scheduled for immigration-related check-ins or court dates had to reschedule their appointments and were able to chat with free legal representatives provided by organizers.
Protestors arrived at the headquarters before the opening hour. They formed a line and used chains to link themselves together in front of two main entrances. A second line of faith leaders linked arms and stood in front of them in order to stall officers who might try to disband them. Other attendees served water and snacks to protestors and people waiting for appointments while singing songs and painting murals on the streets.
Three Palo Alto faith leaders, Erickson, Reverend Diana Gibson and Reverend Tom Harris of the First Presbyterian Church Palo Alto, were in the second line of defense. Despite the high stakes action, neither of the three felt fear, Gibson said.
“What anxiety I felt is nothing compared to what immigrants feel constantly about their whole family, 24 hours, seven days a week” Gibson said.
Demonstrators planned the action in response to complaints about people being arrested and deported immediately after attending immigration court; the sudden separation of families; and “inhumane” conditions in immigration detention centers, according to a letter from Palo Alto’s First Presbyterian Church.
“I was feeling just like it wasn’t enough, that these people seem to be basically getting kidnapped by ICE,” Harris said. “There’s no due process. There’s masked men just jumping out of cars and pulling people off the streets and something, something more has to be done.”
For the faith leaders, the issue hits close to home. In August, an East Palo Alto mother named Aleyda Rodriguez was carried from her car into a van by federal immigration agents while she had a medical emergency. ICE stood outside her hospital door at Stanford Health for days, denying all visitors and frequently checking medical staff for credentials.
According to her primary care physician Yusra Hussain, Rodriguez was discharged to a detention center before she was healthy. Stanford professionals and Palo Alto faith leaders protested the incident, demanding stronger protection of patient rights.
This was just one moment that has spurred Palo Alto faith leaders to be more involved in immigration advocacy.
“I had been looking for some way to take a stand or make a difference, because some of the other things, like writing letters to politicians, didn’t seem to be getting through,” Harris said.
Although the demonstration remained peaceful with little conflict, San Francisco police, firefighters and federal law enforcement agents wearing Department of Homeland Security vests arrived shortly after the protest began, Harris said. Eventually, demonstrators were cut from their chains and those blocking entrances were handcuffed, arrested and charged with blocking an entrance.
More than 40 people were arrested, according to the participants. For many, it was their first time being handcuffed, according to the faith leaders. And for the First Presbyterian Church, it was an opportunity to show commitment to becoming a “multi-ethnic, anti-racist, geographically and economically-diverse Christian community,” its letter stated.
Demonstrators who were arrested are still awaiting a trial date and Palo Alto faith leaders said they were interested in continuing to protest increased immigration enforcement under the current administration.
“It was just so clear that we were on sacred ground in what we were doing and many of the people who were there, waiting for their appointments, and finding out that they didn’t have them were deeply grateful, and they were in a lot more danger than we ever were,” Gibson said.
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All the best to those who chose to take a stand for human rights at this event!