We, the undersigned, are Massachusetts ministers and seminarians of the Unitarian Universalist faith who were in Minneapolis, Minnesota last week for the call issued by Minnesota faith leaders to respond to the unlawful, unethical, and immoral actions of ICE agents in Minnesota. In Minnesota we witnessed and heard first-hand accounts of the violence being perpetuated in that city, and across the country, echoing the stories we’re hearing here in our own communities. Our experience in Minneapolis, as well as the history, values, and principles of our faith, taught us that resisting authoritarianism requires trained, sustained resistance—grounded in truth-telling and faithful witness.   

As religious leaders who have witnessed first-hand the devastation in Minneapolis, we call upon our elected leaders, businesses of Massachusetts, and the citizens of our Commonwealth to take action.

We call on our elected leaders to use their positions to insist that ICE must leave Minnesota now, leave Massachusetts now, and end the harm that is being done in our communities, to our neighbors, and to members of our faith communities.  

  1. We call on our elected leaders to stop federal funding for ICE in the upcoming congressional budget. 
  2. We call upon all citizens and elected leaders to demand that ICE be investigated for human rights violations, constitutional violations, and that a full investigation be made into ICE’s conduct across the country.
  3. We call on all businesses of Massachusetts, particularly those headquartered in Minnesota or headquartered in Massachusetts, to cease relations with ICE, and to refuse to allow ICE entry to their business or to use them as staging grounds.  Businesses make moral choices all the time, and it is time for the businesses of Massachusetts to choose the safety and rights of the communities they serve and the people of this Commonwealth, rather than supporting state violence.  

As religious leaders, we’ve seen the deaths of citizens Alex Pretti and Renee Good spark widespread mourning and grief. But ICE has caused the deaths of numerous people they detain, by withholding medicine and denying basic care. It is a moral failing of our country that ICE has hidden these deaths and they remain unexplained and unaccounted for. 

  • We call on all citizens and all our elected officials to demand that the officers who killed Renee Good and Alex Pretti are held legally accountable. 
  • We call on all citizens and all our elected officials to demand investigations and accountability for all the deaths in detention facilities.  
  • We call on all citizens and all our elected officials to demand that such deaths no longer be carried out in our name as citizens.  

Valuing human dignity, valuing life, and valuing all the people of our Commonwealth and their constitutional rights are not partisan values—they are moral values. We are people who have gone and faithfully witnessed the devastation in the state of Minnesota, where residents, citizens and non-citizens alike, are afraid to leave their houses to go to school, to work, to shop, and to worship. We talked to parents whose children are staying home from school, saw businesses unable to open because their work force could not safely work, and helped the community working to bring groceries to those who could not safely leave the home. Minneapolis is a warning, and it is also teaching us.  

This devastation has already started in Massachusetts, as well, and we call on our civic leaders, our businesses, and all our citizens to end this violence and devastation before it reaches Minneapolis levels here in our Commonwealth of Massachusetts. As religious leaders, we are called to truth-telling and faithful witness about what we have seen. We are deeply rooted in our belief in the inherent worth and dignity of all people, and our deep faith in the calls for justice, accountability, and protection of human life.

Signed:

Rev. Dr. Cynthia L. Landrum, Minister
First Parish Church of Stow and Acton

Rev. Shiloh Hoffman, Chaplain
New Bedford, MA

Rev. Lara Hoke, Minister
First Church Unitarian, Littleton

Rev. Anne Mason, Senior Minister
First Parish in Lexington

Yaakov Trek Reef, Intern Minister
First Parish Church of Stow and Acton 

Rev. Rosemary Dodd
First Parish Unitarian Universalist Church, Bridgewater 

Rev. Erin Splaine, Minister
Nantucket Unitarian Universalist Meetinghouse, Nantucket

Rev. Martha Durkee-Neuman
First Church in Belmont, Unitarian Universalist 

Rhea Brown-Bright, Director of Lifespan
Religious Education and Intern Minister
Melrose Unitarian Universalist Church

Rev. Jamie Hinson-Rieger, Sr. Minister
The First Parish in Bedford, Unitarian Universalist 

Phoebe Eckart-Lee
Medford, MA

Rev. Jennifer Beth Johnson, Lead Minister
First Parish in Concord

Rev. Lisa Perry-Wood
First Parish in Wayland, MA

Rev. Fred Small
Cambridge, MA

Rev. Dr. Susanne Intriligator
Melrose Unitarian Universalist Church, Melrose, MA

Louise Smith-Erb, Director of Religious Exploration
First Parish Framingham

John B. Newhall, Intern Minister & Director of Religious Exploration
First Church in Boston & The Sanctuary Boston
First Parish in Needham, MA

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