How Maine clergy mobilized faith-based action against immigration enforcement

Before sunrise each morning in parts of southern Maine, a quiet ritual unfolds far from church sanctuaries. Clergy members arrive in small groups, take their places along roadside entrances to local businesses and wait. There are no banners and little conversation. Their presence is intentional, visible and meant to be noticed.

For those participating, the act is both spiritual practice and public intervention.

Faith as physical presence

The gatherings are coordinated by the Rev. Jane Field, a Presbyterian minister who also leads the Maine Council of Churches. She describes the effort as an attempt to insert moral witness into everyday spaces where immigrant workers are vulnerable at the end of long shifts.

Standing near parking lot exits, clergy members aim to ensure that no one leaves work unseen. The group believes that visibility — prayerful, calm and collective — can interrupt fear even when it cannot stop enforcement outright.

According to Field, federal immigration agents have frequently appeared nearby, sometimes passing through, other times remaining parked within view. The clergy do not engage. They simply remain.

A response shaped by urgency

The morning gatherings intensified after federal authorities launched a short-notice immigration operation in the state, an action that unsettled immigrant communities and advocates alike. Reports of detentions spread quickly, along with confusion about where those taken were being held.

Faith leaders say the uncertainty — more than the numbers — triggered their response. People disappeared overnight from local custody, and families were left without information.

Relationships formed before crisis

Long before the recent enforcement effort, clergy in Portland and surrounding towns had already been building relationships with detainees held at the county jail. Weekly vigils, handwritten letters and fundraising for legal defense created a network of trust between religious leaders and those inside the system.

When detainees were suddenly transferred out of state, those connections became lifelines. Some individuals were eventually located. Others were not.

The Rev. Tara Humphries, a Unitarian Universalist minister in Portland, described the removals as disorienting and deeply destabilizing for families attempting to track loved ones across state lines.

Organizing without a city center

Unlike large urban areas where volunteer networks can mobilize within minutes, Maine presents a different challenge. Communities are spread out, cities are small and enforcement activity is harder to monitor in real time.

Still, local responses emerged. In Lewiston, home to a large Somali American community, residents — particularly women — began informally coordinating observation efforts, sharing information and checking in on neighbors.

Clergy and volunteers also relied on encrypted messaging platforms to document sightings and maintain situational awareness across towns.

Collective voice in public space

Faith-based resistance expanded beyond quiet vigils. Hundreds gathered at a large event in Lewiston over the weekend, filling a public venue with clergy, community leaders and activists. The message was consistent: immigrant residents are part of Maine’s social fabric and should not live in fear.

Speakers framed the issue not only as a policy dispute, but as a moral test — one that demanded presence, solidarity and persistence.

Direct pressure on political leaders

The campaign soon moved to the offices of elected officials. Earlier this week, dozens of clergy members held a prayerful demonstration outside the office of Senator Susan Collins, calling on her to oppose continued funding for immigration enforcement operations.

The protest included hymns, Scripture readings and nonviolent civil disobedience. Several participants were arrested after refusing to leave.

Shortly afterward, Collins announced that federal officials had told her large-scale enforcement actions in Maine had concluded. Faith leaders responded cautiously, noting past experience and emphasizing that temporary pauses do not equal lasting change.

A wider horizon

For organizers, the work is not confined to state borders. Field said relief in Maine cannot justify silence while similar enforcement continues elsewhere.

Quoting Martin Luther King Jr., she argued that moral responsibility is shared across communities. If one group is targeted, others cannot claim neutrality.

Faith leaders say they will continue to show up — at workplaces, detention sites, rallies and government offices — not as political operatives, but as witnesses.

Their strategy is simple and demanding: remain visible, refuse indifference and insist that faith must be lived not only in words, but in public action when neighbors are at risk.