Minneapolis is carrying deep wounds. Federal agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Homeland Security Investigations, and Border Patrol have swept into the city, claiming to pursue dangerous criminals. Instead, their actions have reached far beyond that purpose—detaining people whose cases are still pending, demanding that people of color prove their citizenship, and separating parents from their children without warning. Trust, one of the most fragile gifts a community holds, has been broken. Many no longer believe these agents come with integrity or care.
I spent two days in Minneapolis last week after clergy across the country were asked to come. Twelve hundred of us gathered—pastors, rabbis, imams, chaplains—to listen to the stories of this city and to bear witness to its pain. We offered spiritual presence to people who are simply worn down. And we stood together to remind the world that the soul of this nation is not defined by the harshness of any administration, but by the compassion of its people.
We heard how neighbors have become lifelines for one another—shopping for families afraid to leave their homes, walking children to school, tending to daily needs with quiet courage. Meanwhile, detainees are being sent to Texas for processing. When officials decide there is no cause to hold them, they are released there—thousands of miles from home, with no way to return. It is a cruelty that leaves families scattered and hearts aching.
Leaders attempt to justify these actions, but their explanations rarely hold up to the light. When people cannot trust their government, they turn to one another. And in Minneapolis, that turning has become a powerful act of love. Communities have organized themselves with remarkable resilience. When ICE arrives, observers follow. Protesters sound whistles to alert neighbors. Their witness is peaceful, disciplined, and rooted in the belief that every person deserves dignity.
This is not how we are meant to live with one another. It has become painfully clear that federal power is being used to instill fear rather than foster safety. Yet what those in authority have not understood is that the true strength of this nation rests in its people—in their compassion, their solidarity, their refusal to abandon one another. And if our elected leaders will not offer the care and respect every human being deserves, then we will continue to offer it ourselves, as an act of faith and as an expression of who we are called to be.
