SACHA PFEIFFER, HOST:
Faith leaders and their congregations have been at the forefront of protests over recent immigration enforcement actions in Minneapolis, and they say their resolve has been strengthened by last Wednesday's killing of a woman by an ICE agent. NPR religion correspondent Jason DeRose has this report.
JASON DEROSE, BYLINE: A vigil for Renée Good at the state capitol this week brought together people of faith from many traditions.
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UNIDENTIFIED CROWD #1: (Singing) We are justice-seeking people.
DEROSE: Several hundred, many wearing clerical collars or crosses or headscarves or prayer shawls, gathered in the freezing cold as the sun set Friday. Rabbi Jason Rodich of Temple Israel in Minneapolis welcomed the crowd.
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JASON RODICH: We stand here as Minnesotans who do not forget the past, as we join together in acts of solidarity and love.
DEROSE: A love that's active in its care for neighbors.
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REGINA HASSANALLY: Peace be with you.
UNIDENTIFIED CROWD #2: And also with you.
DEROSE: Among the speakers was Lutheran bishop Regina Hassanally.
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HASSANALLY: I am here to tell you that there is a God who sees, who sees our outrage, our lament, our tiredness and our anger. There is a God who sees.
ASAD ZAMAN: Across Minnesota, right now, mosques are seeing a 20% drop in attendance. It's very scary. People are scared.
DEROSE: Imam Asad Zaman is executive director of the Muslim American Society of Minnesota. He says immigration enforcement actions have been particularly hard on his community, many of whom are Somali, a group targeted in recent weeks by the Trump administration.
ZAMAN: There is a verse in the Quran where Allah says, (speaking Arabic) - we did indeed endow all the children of Adam with dignity. What's happening is designed to strip people of their dignity, and that's not right.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: You can scan that or you can take a paper one.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: OK. Thank you.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: It saves us money. But - OK, thanks.
DEROSE: Saturday morning, more than 1,000 people gathered at suburban Roseville Lutheran Church to take part in a legal observer training planned long before the killing of Renée Good this past week. Luis Argueta with the social justice group Unidos helped organize the event.
LUIS ARGUETA: We just need to make sure that we have as many people aware of their constitutional rights. We want to make sure that we have as many people that can document and be prepared for what's to come.
DEROSE: What's to come, he says, is expected to be difficult, which is why Pastor Marty Wyatt opened his church's doors to the event.
MARTY WYATT: We are all the body of Christ together, and when one part of the body is hurting, we're all hurting. The whole body is hurting. And so we have to come together as the body of Christ, as neighbors and show up for each other.
DEROSE: Wyatt says he's emboldened by an idea in the Book of Genesis - creation of humanity itself.
WYATT: All of the different ways that we are, all of that diversity, is in the image of God. And if we don't recognize that and celebrate that, we are doing a disservice to the image of God and to God.
DEROSE: Among those attending the training was Natasha.
NATASHA: Jesus said treat your neighbors as you would like to be treated, and I would like to be treated with respect and dignity and have the human dignity of a person and be valued for that.
DEROSE: Natasha asked that we only use her first name because, as a naturalized citizen, she fears legal retribution for speaking out.
NATASHA: It is pushing me out of my comfort zone. But I know I want to be on the right side of history, so it makes me want to keep showing up and doing what I can.
DEROSE: Another attendee is Rachel Wright, who says it is precisely her Christian faith that compels her to protest, and she's proud of why the twin cities have so many diverse communities - Somali, Hmong, Latin American.
RACHEL WRIGHT: A large part of the reason why we have a large immigrant community is because of churches. We've welcomed refugees, we've welcomed immigrants and here we are a rich community because of that.
DEROSE: Neighbors, Wright says, who follow the biblical mandate to welcome the stranger.
Jason DeRose, NPR News, Minneapolis.
(SOUNDBITE OF THE OLYMPIANS' "PLUTO'S LAMENT") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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