In a statement prepared for a prayer vigil at City Hall, which was cancelled due to security concerns, Bishop John Harvey Taylor of the Diocese of Los Angeles expressed outrage over the detention of immigrant workers during targeted raids, including at a downtown shirt factory.
“We gather to pray for peace with justice,” he said. “We pray for an end to the unjust use of state power against the people of God, especially immigrant workers seized from their places of honest work in our city and region.”
He revealed that 14 members of a local Episcopal church were unable to attend their Pentecost service after being detained by federal authorities.
“Their government ripped them from the arms of their families at home and the body of Christ at church. Our siblings in Christ are not criminals," he said. "They accepted offers of honest employment from United States enterprises, in defiance of a busted immigration system that politicians just won’t fix.”
Bishop Taylor criticised the deployment of federal forces, warning that “no undocumented immigrant worker is safe on our streets” and urged the administration to bring the operation to a close.
"No amount of prayer can counteract depraved and stupid policies if their authors will not act with decency and good sense," he said. "Only those who caused this crisis and provoked this unrest can end it."
He called on Christians to pray for restraint among military commanders and for a change of heart among policymakers.
"We pray the angels of heaven will still the hands of those who sign unjust orders targeting United States workers and their families," he said. "God of compassion and justice, give the people of the United States a better understanding of the plight of the undocumented immigrant worker. Inspire us to demand that our leaders undertake the long-overdue work of regularising their status.”
Bishop Taylor concluded: “Taking advantage of their labour while giving them no means of security or political representation is our nation’s greatest civic sin. Lord, have mercy upon us. We pray in the name of Jesus Christ, who came to free the prisoner and care for those whom power had forgotten.”
TRUMP ADMIN DOUBLING DOWN
The Trump administration on Monday ordered U.S. Marines into Los Angeles and intensified raids on suspected undocumented immigrants, fueling more outrage from street protesters and Democratic leaders who raised concerns over a national crisis.
California sued the Trump administration to block deployment of the National Guard and the Marines on Monday, arguing that it violates federal law and state sovereignty.
The top Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee, Senator Jack Reed, said he was "gravely troubled" by Trump's deployment of active-duty Marines, who have been steadily arriving since Monday evening.
"The president is forcibly overriding the authority of the governor and mayor and using the military as a political weapon. This unprecedented move threatens to turn a tense situation into a national crisis," Reed said.
"Since our nation's founding, the American people have been perfectly clear: we do not want the military conducting law enforcement on U.S. soil."
Despite the criticism, the Trump administration has shown no sign of easing its anti-immigration efforts.
US Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem described Los Angeles as a "city of criminals" in an interview with Fox News on Monday evening.
She insisted that immigration officials have been targeting "the worst of the worst" - those who have committed serious crimes.
Noem said that government agencies will seek to double their efforts on Monday.
"We conducted more operations today than we did the day before. And tomorrow, we're going to double those efforts again," she said.