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Seven Vermont clergy arrested while protesting ICE targeting center

September 4, 2026 · 1 min read

(RNS) — Seven faith leaders were arrested in Williston, Vermont on Friday morning (Sept. 4), for blockading the entrances to a building where workers help immigration agents target their efforts, with the clergy insisting their faith compels them to oppose President Donald Trump’s ongoing mass deportation campaign.

The arrests occurred as faith leaders sought to decry the actions of the National Criminal Analysis and Targeting Center, one of three major facilities that help Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents target their operations.

According to the Rev. Rebecca Girrell, a United Methodist pastor who took part in the protest and was among those arrested, faith leaders began blocking the building’s entrances at about 7:30 a.m. They remained there for roughly three hours, with the clergy singing, praying and reading the names of people Girrell said have “been killed in ICE interactions or died in detention.”

Ultimately, Girrell was arrested by Vermont state police alongside six others: two United Church of Christ ministers, an Episcopal priest and the archdeacon of the Episcopal Diocese of Vermont, a Quaker leader and a Unitarian Universalist minister.

“I think it is…

Source: Religion News Service · Read the full story →

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Φωτεινή Παναγιωτοπούλου

These clergy held a three-hour blockade and read the names of the dead. I don't know if this changes anything in practice, but it seems to me that praying and singing outside of a service is not the path I would choose to help people. What do the local immigrants themselves say?

Andreas Becker

I think it's a shame that the priests blocked the entrance for three hours instead of just talking to the people in the center. In our community we have already helped refugee families from Syria and Afghanistan a few times with baking and learning German - that does more than just singing and reading names. What do those affected actually say about it?

Γιώργος Λαμπρόπουλος

These clergy held a three-hour blockade and read the names of the dead, as Fotini says. I don't know, but it seems more useful to go and talk to the immigrants themselves, like Andreas does with the families from Syria and Afghanistan who teaches them German and bakes together. Prayer is good, but without action next to the person it remains a little in the air.

Michael Smith

I get that they're upset about deaths in detention, but blocking the doors for three hours in Vermont doesn't seem like it helps any actual families trying to get settled. Our parish here has quietly helped a couple of refugee families from Congo with coats and groceries when they first arrived—no protests, just showing up with what they needed. What do the clergy think that blockade actually changed on the ground?