During an Ash Wednesday 2026 demonstration in Oxnard, Calif., Molly DeVries holds a sign picturing the Virgin of Guadalupe that has become a symbol of love against the aggressive immigration enforcement tactics by federal agents. (Photo by Jim Burklo)
Special to United Methodist Insight | Feb. 23, 2026
On Ash Wednesday in a mall in Oxnard, CA, I participated in a somber, soulful event organized by Tim Nafziger, Elaine Enns and Ched Myers (Ojai friends and neighbors), registering objection to Target Stores' cooperation with ICE. Our group of progressive Christians – UCC’s, ELCA Lutherans, Mennonites, progressive Catholics, and others - waved signs and sang Taize meditative chants. We got nothing but smiles and thumbs-up from the people who saw us in front of the store... even if they did go in to shop! A similar but huge Ash Wednesday anti-ICE march happened in Chicago, initiated by religious leaders. Progressive Christians are taking leadership of civil resistance to ICE nationwide, setting a peaceful, spiritual tone for others to follow.
You could call it protest. But I think dissidence is a more accurate term for what we’re doing.
A recent Atlantic Monthly article breaks down the difference between dissidence and activism. Activism demands specific public policy changes, often tied to partisan politics. Dissidence transcends politics and activism. Dissidence registers vigorous objection to a moral wrong. It isn't limited by boundaries of political affiliation. It is simple, clear, and powerful. It says but one thing: "What's going on is totally unacceptable!"
What we saw in Minneapolis was dissidence. One hundred progressive clergy were jailed for peaceful civil disobedience. Thousands of neighbors nonviolently went to the streets to object to the outrageous behavior of ICE in their community. What happened there was wrong. Period. That dissidence has spread throughout the country, and it is having a profound effect. Because it isn't about Trump or Republicans or Democrats. It's about how people ought, and ought not, to be treated. This dissidence has significantly turned public opinion away from Trump's brutal treatment of immigrants, whether documented or not.
So in public demonstrations, let us be nonviolent dissidents! Let's keep the message clear and simple.
Fr. Manny Edgar-Beltran, OSB, holds a sign reading "ICE OUT God-Country-Human Dignity" as he joins demonstrators protesting aggressive immigration enforcement by federal agents in Oxnard, Calif. (Photo by Heidi Thompson, Bartimaeus Cooperative Ministries)
But dissidence is not incompatible with activism for public policy change. On the contrary - strong, sustained dissidence opens the pathway for changing the system.
We who voice dissent about ICE will do well to be ready, when the time comes, to offer prescriptions for the dramatic reform of America's immigration policies. I made and spread around signs with an image of the Virgin of Guadalupe above the words "Her Love Melts ICE", and it is waving at demonstrations all over Ventura County, CA. Simple and clear in its morally and spiritually grounded dissidence.
Demonstrators in Oxnard, Calif., protest aggressive immigration enforcement by federal agents. (Photo by Bennett Barthelemy, Bartimaeus Cooperative Ministries)
But I've also made a sign that says "Reagan Gave Amnesty to 3,000,000 Undocumented"... to remind people that there is nothing partisan about instituting a sane and humane immigration policy in this country. There are solutions that won't make everybody perfectly happy, but that will turn us away from the insane and inhumane policies of the present. Instead of terrorizing gardeners and home-health aides and construction workers who have been in this country for years without documentation, contributing vitally to our economy, we can do what Reagan did. Give them legal status and a pathway to citizenship. And at the same time do what Joe Biden did at the end of his term - limit the influx of people seeking asylum by making them wait south of the border for court procedures to determine their status. (Along with this policy, there must be a major expansion of the capacity to process asylum claims in a timely fashion.) We can have a secure border and at the same time refrain from punishing harmless, hard-working people who are here without papers. They should not be victimized by our country’s decades of failure to enact reasonable immigration reforms. A right-wing Republican gave amnesty and a pathway to citizenship to millions in 1986. It should not be a fantasy to expect Republicans to do the same sort of thing today!
About 20 years ago, a bi-partisan proposal was considered in Congress to enact comprehensive immigration reform that would have given legal status to millions of undocumented people while tightening border security. The McCain-Kennedy proposal was promising, but ultimately lost traction because Republicans wanted to "milk" the immigration issue to their partisan advantage. I'd say there is no more milk in the udder on this topic. Let us keep up the vigorous dissident pressure, and at the same time be ready to put forward proposals that are both compassionate and practical to solve this long-standing problem!