About 20 North Texas faith leaders and laypeople gathered Monday outside of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement office in Dallas to pray for ICE agents and for those checking in for immigration appointments.
The group held signs in English and Spanish with messages like “We pray for justice and due process” and “Revolutionary love is the call of our times.” The faith leaders represented Jewish, Muslim and Christian faiths.
The newly created Clergy League for Emergency Action and Response began organizing weekly vigils outside the office in May. Organizers paused the vigils after a gunman opened fire at the office Sept. 24, killing two detainees and injuring another.
Authorities have said 29-year-old Joshua Jahn fired indiscriminately from a nearby rooftop. They said he hated the U.S. government and wanted to incite terror by killing federal agents. No ICE personnel were hurt in the shooting, and Jahn fatally shot himself after the assault.
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Following the attack, vigil organizers told The Dallas Morning News they grieved the shooting and strongly condemned violence. Kessler Park United Methodist Church senior pastor the Rev. Eric Folkerth, who helps lead the Clergy League for Emergency Action and Response, said the goal of the vigils was to call for a decrease in all forms of violence.
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He urged attendees Monday to stay on public sidewalks to avoid adding to any anxiety that ICE agents were feeling after the shooting.
The Rev. George Mason, who leads the multifaith organization Faith Commons, which helped organize the vigils, led the group in prayer. He prayed for God to remind ICE agents of the “full humanity” of those they were working with. He also prayed that God would bring peace to immigrants checking in for their appointments. He said each of them were made in the image of God.
“We ask that you would turn the cruelty of this hour into compassion again, that you would make us a people who welcome the stranger, who live up to our faith values,” he prayed.
Suzy Armstrong, 74, was among those at the vigil. She used to work with very young children with disabilities and, since retiring, has taught ESL classes. She learned about the vigils from Northaven United Methodist Church, which she attends. She was concerned about the impact of family separations on children.
Chris and Holly McGowan (center) hold signs Monday reading “We love immigrants” and “Rest in love Miguel and Norlan” in Spanish during a vigil following the shooting at the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement office in Dallas that killed two people.
Azul Sordo / Staff Photographer
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“The devastation it does to a young child, to be separated from their parents, is lifelong,” she said. “I have worked with and known many immigrant families. I am here to support them.”
Sheryl Gambill, 77, attends Royal Lane Baptist Church. She said this was her first time attending one of these vigils. “I wanted to come because I wanted to make a personal statement of believing that all people have the right to be respected and prove their innocence or guilt,” she said.
Attendees said the shooting had left them more worried for their safety. Still, they believed their presence was important and a way of living out their faith.
Norlán Guzmán Fuentes of El Salvador was killed the day of the shooting. Miguel Ángel García Hernández of Mexico was gravely injured and hospitalized after the shooting. He died after his family took him off life support early Tuesday.
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García Hernández leaves behind his wife, Stephany Gauffeny. The couple had two children together, and Gauffeny gave birth to a third, a son, on Friday. She has two other children from a previous relationship.
The families of both of the men who were killed have started fundraisers through GoFundMe. The family of Guzmán Fuentes is seeking help to transport his body back to El Salvador so his family can say goodbye. That campaign has raised more than $6,000.
García Hernández’s family started a fundraiser a few days after the attack. García Hernández was the family’s main provider, according to the fundraiser. The fundraiser asks for help covering his widow’s expenses and his funeral costs. It has raised over $82,000.
Jose Andres Bordones-Molina, 33, was injured in the shooting and transported to Parkland Memorial Hospital for treatment, an ICE spokesperson said. He has since been released and is being held at a detention center south of Fort Worth. He was arrested by ICE the morning of the shooting after he was released from the Hurst City jail, where he was being held for a traffic offense, the agency said.
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The Clergy League for Emergency Action and Response initially planned to meet again for a vigil on Sept. 29, the first Monday after the shooting. However, Mason and Folkerth told The News the group chose not to meet after they learned that the office would be closed.