Only two percent of West Virginia’s population consists of immigrants, one of the lowest in the country.
But the figure did not keep the Rev. Zach Drennen, rector of St. James Church in Lewisburg, from joining fellow faith leaders to protest immigration enforcement policies—as they saw their effects unfold on people they know. The small town where his parish sits, with a population of fewer than 4,000, has a strong Latino community.
“As soon as these ICE raids began … this community was paralyzed with fear and there were people afraid to go to grocery stores,” Drennen told The Living Church. “It just struck home, because these realities are not imagined. These were real relationships that we have—these are real friendships that we have.”
He added, “And so, when what I consider members of our own community are suffering because of these ICE raids, it just seemed natural that we would be very concerned about that.” It did not help that in August the state entered a partnership with federal authorities under the 287(g) program, which deputizes state police to act as ICE agents.
The rector explained that because of the program, law enforcement officers have begun asking people for documentation at places such as DUI checkpoints and toll booths. “If they couldn’t immediately produce a green card or citizenship papers, they would immediately be detained,” he said. At least 60 people have been arrested since the state’s partnership with ICE began.
On December 8, Drennen and a group that included leaders from United Methodist and Roman Catholic churches braved a snowstorm to hand-deliver a petition to Gov. Patrick Morrisey’s office. They call on the governor to pause the agreement with ICE and halt the raids, especially during the holiday season. Ultimately, the group would like to see the 287(g) program end.
Nearly 700 people have signed the petition, local news outlet WDTV reported. It reads in part: “The Christmas season is a time of profound spiritual reflection, compassion, and the celebration of family bonds, principles that are deeply cherished by the citizens of West Virginia. For the Christian community, which includes a significant portion of the undocumented population in the state, the holidays are particularly sacred.”
The group also held a protest and press conference, which Drennen said resulted in greater awareness of the petition—“what we had hoped for.” In a sign of support for his advocacy, the Diocese of West Virginia shared news of the protest on its Facebook page.
The day after Drennen went to the state capitol, leaders from Episcopal congregations across New York City gathered at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in Manhattan to speak against escalating federal immigration enforcement and to support Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani’s call for New Yorkers to stand up for the safety and dignity of immigrant families.
Echoing sentiments expressed by faith leaders nationwide, they focused on the effects on families, saying federal authorities’ actions have left families frightened and uncertain, and disrupted long-standing legal processes across the city.
“When the federal government shuts down asylum pathways and ramps up enforcement at the same time, it puts entire communities in immediate harm’s way,” Bishop Matthew Heyd of New York said.
“New York will not abandon people seeking safety. We are standing with them and backing that commitment with action—including expanded funding for legal defense so families have real protection, not just words,” he said. “We join Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani’s call to action to New Yorkers, to stand up to federal immigration authorities and protect the safety and dignity of our people.”
Mamdani, who will begin his term as mayor of the nation’s largest city on January 1, has consistently pushed back against the Trump administration’s mass deportation agenda. He has said he told President Trump that raids conducted in New York City are cruel and inhumane “and they do nothing to serve the interests of public safety.”
Most recently, reports emerged that a 6-year-old migrant boy had been separated from his father after both were detained during a routine check-in on November 26.
“What we are seeing in ICE detentions is a profound moral crisis. Due process is a moral principle, yet the system operating since January 2025 is warrantless, violent, biased, and deliberately inaccessible,” said Mary Rothwell Davis, the Diocese of New York’s vice chancellor for immigration and refugees. “This level of moral indifference threatens not only our precepts of justice but our basic humanity.”
In both rhetoric and action, the Episcopal Church has been consistent in opposing the Trump administration’s immigration policies. The day after the inauguration on January 21, Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde of Washington appealed directly to President Trump on behalf of LGBTQ people and immigrants.
“They may not be citizens or have proper documents; the vast majority are not criminals. They pay taxes and are good neighbors. They are faithful members of our churches, mosques and synagogues, gurdwaras, and temples,” Budde told the president during the Washington National Cathedral’s interfaith Service of Prayer for the Nation.
In May, Presiding Bishop Sean Rowe announced that the church’s refugee resettlement ministry would end its partnership with the federal government after the church’s refusal to resettle white South Africans, members of the nation’s Afrikaner minority.
Rowe described the group as being “selected in a highly unusual manner” and as receiving preferential treatment over others who have waited in refugee camps or dangerous conditions for years. The cohort underwent a fast-track vetting process even as U.S. refugee admissions from most countries were effectively halted.
The church’s move was praised by the Most Rev. Thabo Makgoba, Archbishop of Cape Town and Metropolitan of the Anglican Church of Southern Africa.
During a special online meeting of the Executive Council on December 11, at which the church’s $45 million budget for 2026 was approved, council member Katie Sherrod of Texas sought funding for what she called a “civic disaster,” citing immigrants being disappeared from communities and arrested in parking lots.
Sherrod proposed a figure she acknowledged was “pulled out of thin air”—approximately $5 million. Her suggestion received supportive responses by Rowe and House of Deputies President Julia Ayala Harris, who said the matter would be discussed further by the council’s executive committee.
Caleb Maglaya Galaraga is The Living Church’s Episcopal Church reporter. His work has also appeared in Christianity Today, Broadview Magazine, and Presbyterian Outlook, among other publications.
