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Faith leaders connect Juneteenth to immigration raids at downtown LA prayer vigil
Marines and National Guard soldiers watched from inside the downtown federal building as an interfaith group prayed outside.
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Courtesy Calvin Kia Abbasi
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PICO California
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Faith leaders connect Juneteenth to immigration raids at downtown LA prayer vigil
Though protests have waned in recent days, several hundred people gathered in downtown Los Angeles on the eve of Juneteenth to pray and condemn the separation of families because of immigration raids.
Topline:
Several hundred people gathered in downtown Los Angeles on Wednesday evening to mark Juneteenth by praying about and condemning recent immigration raids.
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0:48
Faith leaders connect Juneteenth to immigration raids at downtown LA prayer vigil
The backstory: People Improving Communities Through Organizing California, known as PICO California, coordinated the prayer walk. Executive Director Joseph Tomás McKellar said there’s a connection between the raids and the holiday that commemorates the 1865 enforcement of the Emancipation Proclamation in Texas.
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“ Juneteenth … marked the end of chattel enslavement of African Americans and a monumental step in the direction of affirming the dignity of all human beings,” McKellar said. “Today in L.A., that dignity is under assault.”
The scene: Several hundred people met at La Placita and then walked to the federal building in downtown Los Angeles, participants said. “Our plan was just to leave flowers in the place to pray for peace and to bring a spirit of kinship where there had been so much fear and so much anxiety than just weeks before,” said Father Brendan Busse, pastor at Dolores Mission Church in Boyle Heights. Photos from the event show Department of Homeland Security police, Marines and National Guard members observing as protesters laid flowers on the steps. “I felt hopeful,” Busse said. “We go through periods of conflict. We go through periods of confusion. But we can also bring into those spaces moments that are really sacred.”
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Head out on a bike ride, check out a museum exhibition or improv show — all in honor of Juneteenth. -
This is the story of Jonathan Leonard, who is credited with bringing the Juneteenth tradition to L.A. from his home in Texas. -
As the U.S. celebrates the second federal holiday honoring Juneteenth, several myths persist about the origins and history about what happened when enslaved people were emancipated in Texas.
Churches and immigration: In January, the Trump administration rescinded federal policy that prohibited immigration enforcement at “sensitive locations,” including hospitals, schools and places of worship. The speakers Wednesday included the pastor of a Downey church where armed federal agents detained a man last week.
Go deeper: Downey church community on edge after masked, armed officers detain man on church property
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