As the city of Chicago prepares for the possible deployment of federal troops and additional ICE agents, similar to operations previously seen in Los Angeles and Washington, D.C., Presbyterian leaders are voicing concern and calling for faithful witness.
“We in Chicagoland are being called to be peacemakers now,” said Joe Morrow, associate pastor for evangelism and community engagement at Fourth Presbyterian Church in Chicago. “We must model what it means to exercise our constitutional rights in healthy ways … how to be salt and light in these fraught and difficult times.”
“We in Chicagoland are being called to be peacemakers now.” — Joe Morrow
Earlier this week, President Donald Trump suggested that he would be sending National Guard troops to Chicago, despite opposition from state and city officials.
“This is the good news … in our case, that city and state are pushing back,” said Presbytery of Chicago Executive Presbyter Craig M. Howard.
The president has also suggested he would send troops into other cities, including Boston, Massachusetts, and New Orleans, Louisiana.
Fourth Presbyterian Church, where Morrow serves, continues to support vulnerable neighbors through Chicago Lights Social Service Center, a nonprofit based at the church since 1983. The program provides case management, housing support, clothing, and food for adults experiencing or at risk of homelessness and hunger.
Morrow said the church is also preparing for possible unrest near its downtown location. “The church is ready to respond, to guide and direct their most vulnerable neighbors, diffuse tension, and be goodwill ambassadors on their very public blocks,” he said.
Morrow, as a minister-member of Fourth, joined other faith leaders in organizing a peaceful protest recently at Federal Plaza. He described the Resist the Trump Takeover event as a “very spiritual and prayerful gathering,” adding, “We have to model what faithful resistance looks like.”
Born and raised in Chicago, Morrow said, “This place is my heart home.”
Executive Presbyter Howard, also a Chicago native, described the current situation as “surreal.” He said, “I just never thought that in this country federal troops would drive up wearing a mask and grab a person and throw them in a van.”
“The question now,” Howard said, “is: Are we still going to stand by the gospel?”
“Are we still going to stand by the gospel?” — Craig M. Howard
The Presbytery of Chicago has been active in responding to the immigrant crisis in recent years. In 2022, when Texas lawmakers sent tens of thousands of immigrants to Chicago, Howard called it an “attempt to overwhelm your capacity to care” and accused politicians of using “people as political tools.”
Congregations across the area responded with clothing ministries, housing support, and other aid. The presbytery also launched a resource webpage for immigrants and is developing a relief fund to assist congregation members in crisis. Erie Neighborhood House, which has long ties to the presbytery, continues to support immigrant families.
“The rights of these neighbors are being stepped on by humans in masks,” Howard said.
Morrow emphasized the urgency of the moment. He warned that a stronger presence of the National Guard and ICE in Chicago is “a very near and real prospect.”
According to a report on CNN, the Department of Homeland Security announced a specific operation targeting what it refers to as “criminal illegal aliens.” The department’s “Operation Midway Blitz” claims immigrants are in the state of Illinois and the city of Chicago due to Gov. Bill Pritzker’s “sanctuary policies [that] allow them to roam free on American streets.”
Earlier this week, immigration agents in Chicago arrested several people said to have gang connections.
In 2022, the state of Texas, under orders from Gov. Greg Abbott, began busing immigrants to other states, including Illinois. By December 2023, more than 80,000 immigrants had been bused out of Texas, and a large number had been sent from Texas to Chicago.
“We don’t want troops, we want funding for programs for community violence intervention fully restored,” Morrow said.
He concluded: “I hate to see any city brought to this point where federalized troops are deployed against our citizens for no good reason.”
