Pasadena Church Hosts Three Immigration Actions in Three Days

All Saints Church is hosting three immigration-focused community events over three consecutive days, offering Pasadena residents a range of ways to respond to intensified federal immigration enforcement and related developments. Federal agents shot and killed a second protestor in Minneapolis on Saturday

The first local event was a solidarity rally Friday in downtown Los Angeles, explicitly supporting Minneapolis faith leaders who have been organizing protests since an ICE agent fatally shot Renee Good January 7.

The second, a Sunday, January 25 workshop at the church, will address practical ‘allyship’ for community members.

The third, a Monday, January 26 training session, will teach attendees how to conduct community patrols to monitor for ICE activity.

On Sunday at 9:00 a.m., the church’s Immigration Task Force will lead “Faith & Formation: Immigration and Allyship” in Sweetland Hall. The workshop, held in collaboration with the Immigration Resource Center, will address “what it looks like to be in solidarity with our community and neighbors, in the face of the increased targeting of our migrant siblings,” according to the church’s announcement.

Monday’s community patrol training begins at noon in the All Saints Church Learning Center. The session is presented by the Community Self Defense Coalition, a network of more than 60 organizations across Southern California that train volunteers to monitor neighborhoods for ICE activity and alert residents. Validated parking is available in Plaza Las Fuentes. Registration is available through a link provided by the church.

All Saints, located at 132 N. Euclid Ave. across from Pasadena City Hall, has a history of immigration advocacy. The church declared itself a sanctuary church in 1983 during the Central American refugee crisis. Its Immigration Task Force works to “educate the parish and the community about the plight of immigrants and the root causes of migration,” according to the church website.

Pasadena has also seen increased immigration enforcement activity. Mark Chase, associate rector at All Saints, was among local clergy who responded to ICE activity in the area last year. At a recent summit at a Pasadena church, an immigration lawyer from a Christian legal-services nonprofit answered questions from about 120 attendees who had witnessed masked immigration agents making arrests in the community, according to Christianity Today.

The three events represent different levels of engagement, from public witness to education to direct community action, at a moment when the church says it is “calling on our members of Congress to hold ICE accountable for enforcement actions that have brought chaos and violence to peaceful communities.”

For more information, call (626) 796-1172 or visit allsaints-pas.org.