Photos and story by Malia Fraser
A procession of United Methodists and people of faith from around the country easily filled over three blocks as they marched through the streets of Washington, D.C. Pastors boldly wore their clergy collars and colorful stoles, while laypeople held signs calling for immigration justice. The participants discussed the current administration’s immigration policies and sang protest songs as they walked toward the United States Capitol.
The group of over 2,000 showed up for Faithful Resistance: A Public Witness for Immigration Justice, an event that started with a worship service and peace vigil held at Capitol Hill United Methodist Church on the morning of Feb 25, 2026. As the congregation grew quickly to capacity, overflow crowds gathered at two additional churches to watch the service from a livestream. The service left passionate hymns and sermons ringing in the worshipper’s ears as they marched past the Supreme Court of the United States and made their way to Senate Park in view of the United States Capitol.
Among the peaceful parade were three students from Western Washington University, including me, and our pastor, Rev. Justin White. Garden Street United Methodist Church sponsored our journey to the nation’s capital, allowing me to document the protest and the others to join in. This past September, many members from the Bellingham church joined United Methodists from around the state in a Solidarity Day with La Resistencia to protest the detention center located in Tacoma. Of all facilities that hold detainees in the United States, the Northwest ICE Processing Center has the 10th-largest daily average population, according to TRAC Reports Inc.
When Rev. Justin White mentioned the march in Washington, D.C., to his Garden Street UMC community, there was no question whether they would support the church’s presence at the event.
“As people of faith, it’s important to speak up,” said White. “Particularly in a country that believes that it is a Christian country, or at least founded on Christian principles, where its immigration policy is anything but Christian.”
While many members of Garden Street UMC would have loved to be at the public witness, White says there is something powerful about the church supporting the generation coming after them. Evan Redman, an Environmental Studies student at WWU, said being a part of the march left him with a strong sense of community.
“All of us here truly care about our neighbors regardless of their race or religion or immigration status,” said Redman. “I feel a lot of unity and a lot of joy because of that.”
Rev. Katie Ladd traveled to the nation’s capital from Queen Anne United Methodist Church in Seattle because she feels it is important to show up at the places where political power is being used to harm her neighbors.
“Our faith tells us, I believe, that salvation—which means wholeness—is not an individual endeavor,” said Ladd. “Those who can stand in the light have to stand in the light because those who are hiding in their homes need people who understand that our salvation is bound to one another.”
Following the march, participants had the opportunity to engage in discussion with members of Congress.
The group from Washington state visited with representatives of Rick Larsen, Washington’s second congressional district since 2001, and Patty Murray, senior United States Senator from Washington since 1993. Students shared their stories of how the current administration’s treatment of immigrants has affected their communities. They shared their desire for defunding U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, holding ICE accountable for violence, and for protection from ICE activity in sensitive locations such as food banks, churches, and courts. Both representatives for Larson and Murray affirmed the importance of sharing thoughts and stories with decision-makers and of showing up to support local communities.
A protester from Bensalem UMC in Pennsylvania, Rev. Sophy Gamber, feels that accountability is a form of love.
“We want to hold our institutions, our government, our politicians, our leaders, everybody, we want to hold them to the higher standard that we’re called to,” said Gamber.
On the way to Senate Park, Gamber spotted a woman leaning out of her window, videotaping the march from her phone while tears ran down her face. As Gamber made eye contact with the woman, the woman mouthed a “Thank you.” Down the block, Gamber noticed a man waving and mouthing his gratitude from his parked car as the marchers sang past him.
“When we’re here together, we’re not just speaking to each other or for one another,” said Gamber. “We’re also speaking for people who don’t feel like they can join us in the street.”
Andrew Foster, a district superintendent for the Eastern Pennsylvania Annual Conference and dean of the cabinet, says, “This is part of demonstrating our faith in action. We preach, and we speak, but we also need to use our feet and our hands to be able to go and be in solidarity with the people that need us the most, and that’s each other.”
Foster said that words are simply words until action is put behind them.
“It’s more than a Sunday morning,” said Foster. “To be in solidarity, it’s not a sacrifice, it’s a must.”
Rev. Sean Lee, a pastor in the Greater New Jersey Conference and an assistant to the Bishop, agreed that Christians are not called only to their local churches or comfort zones. Lee also acknowledged his mixed feelings about the event.
“We are too late to get together, raising our voice for the situation happening around us,” said Lee. “At the same time, I am so grateful that we can get together now. We don’t know each other, but we are here because of our Lord God. Sharing the love and God’s love of people who may feel isolated, unheard.”
A campus minister from North Carolina Central University, Rev. Dr. Gloria Winston, said she traveled with a group of 50 people to the nation’s capital to be a witness where it matters most.
“Our faith is not private.Our faith is public,” said Winston. “It’s not that personal relationship, but it’s a communal representation of who God is.”
For the three students from Washington state, fully supported by their church, to be present in the march, Noah Martin, a student studying Spanish, summed it up nicely: “I didn’t feel like an individual, I felt like the body of God.”
Malia Fraser is an aspiring environmental photojournalist from the Pacific Northwest. She is a student at Western Washington University in Bellingham, Washington.
