'This is domestic terror': Shaken by ICE raids, pastors rethink ministries
Fabián Arias, right, assists an immigrant family outside the Jacob K. Javits federal building, July 17, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
When Tanya Lopez talks about the day in June when she had to confront masked agents in her church parking lot, she focuses on the man they detained. As the pastor of Downey Memorial Christian Church near Los Angeles, California, she said her primary concern was the person being taken away by the apparent federal immigration agents, though they declined to identify what agency they worked for.
But the fact that agents felt comfortable apprehending a man on church property—and were willing, Lopez says, to raise a weapon at her even after she identified herself as a pastor—left her shaken.
“This is domestic terror, in my opinion,” Lopez said at the time. “I don’t feel safe. I still have to show up at church on Sunday. I still have to lead worship.”
