Clouds Of Witness

Eight immigration courts line the fourth-floor hallway of the downtown Edward J. Schwartz Federal Building. On the walls: boot prints of ICE agents.

But on World Refugee Day, masked immigration agents weren’t leaning against the off-white walls, waiting to grab people. They scattered Friday after seeing a clergy delegation led by Bishop-elect Michael Pham.

“Like the story of Moses and Exodus, the Red Sea parted,” said observer Scott Reid of the immigrant-aiding San Diego Organizing Project.

Said another: “We’ve never seen the hallways cleared out so quickly.”

The result: Nobody was detained as immigration lawyers said would happen.

Two cases were heard Friday morning by Judge Catherine “Cate” Halliday-Roberts — a man whose case was continued and a woman whose case had been administratively closed for 20 years and reopened by the government.

Obviously another dangerous criminal.

What’s interesting is that the masked men flee in the presence of a bishop and other clergy.

Bishop Pham, himself a Vietnamese refugee as a child, said ICE agents were “standing there covered with masks as we walked toward the courtroom. Eventually the … agents kind of scattered and went away. No wonder people come in fear.”

Pham continued the mission of his predecessor, Cardinal Robert McElroy, also an outspoken advocate for immigrants before leaving to be archbishop of Washington, D.C.

Pham said a government lawyer struck up a chat in the restroom.

“He introduced himself to me,” Pham told reporters. “He feels conflicted with the situation. He knows his morals and his values.”

The Rev. Santorosa said masked ICE agents were an intimidating presence despite the fact the federal court staff was “very accommodating.”

Immigrants, he said, “came with great fear and trepidation.”

The Rev. Manny Del Rio — of St. John of the Cross in Lemon Grove — echoed others: “It was evident that our presence made a difference. … This was one of the last peaceful times in a long time” with no immigrants being detained.

Besides 10 clergy members and the press, at least a dozen activists (including one not attached to a group but calling herself a “rogue Catholic”), assembled outside the building and handed out sheets in English and Spanish titled “KNOW YOUR RIGHTS: ICE ARRESTS AT IMMIGRATION COURTHOUSES.”

Under “WHAT TO DO IF ARRESTED,” was this advice: “If you fear returning to your home country — say it clearly and out loud to the ICE officers (and) request a credible fear interview.”

I’m actually surprised ICE didn’t go outside the building to charge someone with obstruction.

Interesting, too, I was just reading this post from nearly 20 (!) years ago. One of my concerns there was the idea of the ekklesia, specifically: what is its place in the public square?

The church is the cloud of witnesses, the body of Christ, the community of believers. But what it is not, is a source of temporal or even secular power; it tried that, and learned the dangers of it (although it will undoubtedly try again and again; it is, after all, only human). There is also another thing it is not: it is not exclusive from the public square, something "purely personal" that only affects me as I live within the confines of my four walls, or stare out through the holes in my skull. It is the ekklesia, the people gathered in the public square for a not wholly public purpose. And to the extent that is a problem for the world: so be it.

This isn’t exactly what I had in mind when I wrote those words 19 years ago. But the story is a dramatic example of the clouds of witness. That’s what drove those ICE agents away. The witness. Maybe they didn’t want to be seen harassing clergy. But that’s because clergy are a very public part of the clouds of witness; for all the saints. It can be a dangerous witness. After all, Christians believe the world killed God himself. Still, the ekklesia is the people gathered in the public square for a not wholly public purpose. And to the extent that is a problem for the world: so be it.