{"id":139377,"date":"2026-02-19T23:05:12","date_gmt":"2026-02-19T23:05:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/139377\/"},"modified":"2026-02-19T23:05:12","modified_gmt":"2026-02-19T23:05:12","slug":"new-york-leads-ash-wednesday-prayer-bearing-witness-to-immigration-enforcements-human-impact-episcopal-news-service","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/139377\/","title":{"rendered":"New York leads Ash Wednesday prayer \u2018bearing witness\u2019 to immigration enforcement\u2019s human impact \u2013 Episcopal News Service"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Ash<\/a><\/p>\n

New York Bishop Matthew Heyd, center right, leads an Ash Wednesday prayer procession on Feb. 18 outside Federal Plaza in Manhattan to \u201cbear public witness\u201d to the human impact of the U.S. immigration system. Photo: Angela James<\/p>\n

[Episcopal News Service] The Diocese of New York<\/a> led more than 300 faith leaders and New Yorkers in an Ash Wednesday prayer procession<\/a> outside Federal Plaza in Manhattan to \u201cbear public witness\u201d to the human impact of U.S. immigration enforcement policies. Federal immigration officials have detained thousands of immigrants at Federal Plaza since President Donald Trump started his second term in office in late January 2025.<\/p>\n

\u201cAsh Wednesday begins the season when we are turning back to God, when we are trying to let go of our brokenness and embrace healing and holiness,\u201d New York Bishop Matthew Heyd told Episcopal News Service in a Nov. 17 phone interview. \u201cWe think this is part of what we\u2019re doing [on Feb. 18] to reclaim our humanity, which we do by recognizing our lives together with God and our solidarity with each other.\u201d<\/p>\n

Long Island Bishop Lawrence C. Provenzano, Newark Bishop Carlye Hughes, Episcopal priests and laity, faith leaders from the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, the Catholic Church and other ecumenical and interfaith partners joined the prayer procession.<\/p>\n

At the gathering, participants, many with ashes on their foreheads and carrying signs reading \u201cICE OUT\u201d and \u201cREMEMBER OUR HUMANITY,\u201d prayed and sang hymns as they processed in front of Federal Plaza. Priests also were available to impose ashes on anyone who asked.<\/p>\n

Federal Plaza is one of three<\/a> immigration court sites in Manhattan. The other sites at Ted Weiss Federal Building on Broadway and the Varick Federal are also in Manhattan.<\/p>\n

Last summer, after an immigration rights group sued over the \u201csqualid and overcrowded\u201d conditions of holding areas on Federal Plaza\u2019s 10th floor, a federal judge ordered ICE to improve conditions. During a Feb. 9 hearing over the lawsuit, federal attorneys admitted<\/a> in court that ICE officers have been detaining immigrants on other floors and not abiding by judge\u2019s orders.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe in the community of faith should never underestimate how important it is that we continue to faithfully advocate for minorities, for those on the margins and for those who are oppressed by the current administration,\u201d the Rev. Caroline Stacey, rector of St. Luke in the Fields Episcopal Church<\/a> in New York\u2019s West Village, told ENS. \u201cNo more than ever, we should never underestimate how important it is that we stand fast for what we believe, and that we remember that we really are all in this together and that justice is a communal enterprise.\u201d<\/p>\n

As of Jan. 8, 68,990 migrants and asylum-seekers are in ICE custody, according to the latest ICE and U.S. Customs and Border Patrol data<\/a> compiled by NBC News.<\/p>\n

Three known Episcopalians<\/a> have been detained at Federal Plaza in the last year, including Yeonsoo \u201cSoo\u201d Go, a visa holder from South Korea, Elizabeth \u201cKetty\u201d De Los Santos, an asylum-seeker from Peru, and an unnamed parishioner of the Church of St. Mary the Virgin in Manhattan. Go has since been released and has reunited with her mother, the Rev. Kyrie Kim, an Episcopal priest in the Diocese of New York.<\/p>\n

Asylum-seekers, like De Los Santos and the unnamed Episcopalian, and refugees leave their homes for a variety of reasons, including but not limited to war, violence and persecution over race, ethnicity, religion or sexual orientation. Seeking asylum in the United States is legal<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Although the terms migrants and asylum-seekers are often used interchangeably, not all migrants are asylum-seekers. The latter are people seeking protection from persecution or violence, but who haven\u2019t yet been legally recognized as refugees.<\/p>\n

Even though asylum-seekers, refugees, green card holders and other people with valid visas are in the United States legally, many have been arrested \u2013 often violently \u2013 and detained during routine immigration check-ins at places like Federal Plaza. Small children<\/a> have also been arrested and sent to detention centers.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe dignity of our people is at stake \u2013 not just who\u2019s been detained, but also how they\u2019ve been detained,\u201d Heyd said.<\/p>\n

The Diocese of Central New York<\/a>, in collaboration with the Catholic Diocese of Syracuse, held similar Ash Wednesday prayer events at federal buildings in Mattydale and downtown Syracuse. Both events included imposing Ashes to Go<\/a> and prayers.<\/p>\n

Central New York Bishop DeDe Duncan-Probe told The Post-Standard newspaper, which serves the Syracuse metropolitan area, in a Feb. 16 story<\/a> that she had also invited ICE leaders to join the prayer services.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s really about a human invitation to our life together, that we\u2019re honoring the dignity of other human beings, and as people who have taken vows to do this, it\u2019s part of our life of faith,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Heyd said it felt like \u201cthe natural thing to do\u201d to host the prayer procession at Federal Plaza on Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent \u2013 a time of penitence and reflection.<\/p>\n

\u201cAsh Wednesday starts the season of repentance and reclaiming who we are,\u201d Heyd said. \u201cThat\u2019s our hope for [Ash Wednesday] and always, to be good allies for our siblings and to bear witness.\u201d<\/p>\n

-Shireen Korkzan is a reporter and assistant editor for Episcopal News Service. She can be reached at skorkzan@episcopalchurch.org.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"New York Bishop Matthew Heyd, center right, leads an Ash Wednesday prayer procession on Feb. 18 outside Federal…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":117572,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[9,24,55,54,56],"class_list":{"0":"post-139377","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york-city","8":"tag-new-york","9":"tag-new-york-city","10":"tag-new-york-city-headlines","11":"tag-new-york-city-news","12":"tag-ny"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/139377","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=139377"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/139377\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/117572"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=139377"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=139377"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=139377"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}