A growing team of Good Shepherd parishioners is bearing witness at peaceful protests at the ICE building in Burlington. This unsigned building at 1000 District Ave, behind the Burlington Mall, is the primary Field Office for New England which means it is the center for Removal and Enforcement Operations.

At 7:00 AM on Tuesday, September 16, a group from Good Shepherd joined hundreds of others from across the Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts in support of Blanca, a Honduran refugee and Salem parishioner. Blanca was ordered to the ICE office for the second time in a month where she faced the risk of being detained on the spot or given a 2-week notice to self-deport. She is one of thousands of rule-following immigrants who have been kidnapped by ICE or are at risk of detention and deportation.

The rally for Blanca was organized by Episcopal City Missions along with other human rights organizations. It was in addition to the Wednesday rallies that have been going on for more than 20 consecutive weeks and have grown to 600 people. By peacefully rallying we were able to accompany Blanca, demonstrate moral and political solidarity, and make it much harder for federal agents to detain or deport her without cause.

This video, taken by Rev. Ellie, documents Blanca walking on crutches into her hearing surrounded by Bishop Julia, her rector, her attorney, as well as political and community leaders. In a powerful embrace of emotional support, the crowd sang and prayed her into the building, and rejoiced when she came out later with good news: Blanca may remain in the US for a year and can resume her path to permanent citizenship.

It matters when we show up in the name of faith.