{"id":386315,"date":"2026-07-25T15:25:28","date_gmt":"2026-07-25T15:25:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/386315\/"},"modified":"2026-07-25T15:25:28","modified_gmt":"2026-07-25T15:25:28","slug":"faith-leaders-demand-texas-hold-ice-accountable-the-austin-chronicle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/386315\/","title":{"rendered":"Faith Leaders Demand Texas Hold ICE Accountable \u2022 The Austin Chronicle"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Over 30 religious leaders from across the state gathered at the Capitol on Wednesday, July 22, for a news conference to address the killing of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.austinchronicle.com\/news\/austinites-honor-lorenzo-salgado-araujo-demand-ice-accountability\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">Lorenzo Salgado Araujo<\/a> by ICE agents in Houston earlier this month and to demand the governor and Legislature assert their power over federal immigration operations.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">On July 15, Gov. Greg Abbott spoke about the killing for the first time, saying that Texas Rangers would work alongside federal law enforcement to investigate the shooting.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Organized by Texas Impact, an interfaith advocacy network, leaders spanning denominations spoke about the recent actions of ICE, invoking both the Bible and historical comparisons to differing degrees. The organizers mentioned multiple changes that they hope to see.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The advocates called for clear, enforceable limits on use of force from ICE. \u201cThe use of lethal force against a human being is a great matter that must never be shielded from accountability,\u201d said Abel Vega, from the Rio Texas Conference of the United Methodist Church. \u201cAnd when it occurs in our streets, in our neighborhoods, and in the presence of our children, it demands not silence but a full public reckoning.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">They are also pushing for ICE agents to wear visible identification and active body cameras, and to provide prompt, direct, and compassionate notification to impacted families when these incidents occur. Salgado Araujo\u2019s family learned of his death via social media.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cA father was killed on a Houston street on his way to a construction site, and then his citizen children learn of his death, not from an official, but from a video circulating on social media,\u201d Vega added. \u201cThis is a moral wound to our whole community, and we will not look away from it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">They also want the state to conduct independent oversight of ICE operations; a moratorium on 287(g) agreements \u2013 arrangements that allow state and local police to conduct immigration enforcement \u2013 and to review, license, and regulate every residential facility operating in Texas.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cVideos of young kids in immigration court by themselves, bewildered and judges questioning, are haunting. All this is against our religious beliefs and our moral principles that this country claims,\u201d said the Rev. Jim Harrington of St. James Episcopal Church in East Austin. \u201c[ICE agents] cannot defend themselves by claiming they\u2019re following orders. Following orders is never a justification in the Christian tradition, nor international law, to perpetuate evil.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Harrington also spoke about the church\u2019s role in activism, comparing the agency\u2019s actions to Nazi Germany. \u201cOur commitment is to work with government when we can, change government when we need, and resist government when it does not respond,\u201d Harrington added. \u201cDietrich Bonhoeffer, murdered by the Nazis, said, \u2018We are not to suddenly bandage the wounds of the victims beneath the wheels of injustice, we are to drive a spoke into the wheel itself,\u2019 to stop the machine of injustice. Going one step further, our job as religious leaders is to commandeer the machine.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Bettie Forman, a representative of the National Council of Jewish Women, also spoke about the Holocaust. \u201cDifferent methods were used, but it was the same reasoning. And this is the way it started \u2013 exactly what\u2019s happening here,\u201d she said as the heads behind her nodded.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe were all immigrants at one time,\u201d Forman told the Chronicle. \u201cThey\u2019re part of our community, and what we see happening is illegal and immoral, and we just need for it to stop.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Over two dozen faith-based leaders of numerous political and religious beliefs came together that day to urge those in the state with the highest power to take action; to speak out against ICE\u2019s efforts; to implement changes to the agency\u2019s conduct; and to choose compassion over cruelty.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe invite our representatives in the Legislature, so many of whom claim to be Christian, to reject ICE violence and restore peace in our communities,\u201d said the Rev. Dan De Leon of Friends Congregational Church in College Station. \u201cWe implore our state lawmakers to repent from the ideology of cruelty and dominance and to turn toward a theology of compassion and hospitality.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"has-small-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">A note to readers:\u00a0Bold and uncensored,\u00a0The Austin Chronicle\u00a0has been Austin\u2019s independent news source for over 40 years, expressing the community\u2019s political and environmental concerns and supporting its active cultural scene. Now more than ever, we need your support to continue supplying Austin with independent, free press. If real news is important to you, please consider making a donation of $5, $10 or whatever you can afford, to help keep our journalism on stands. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Over 30 religious leaders from across the state gathered at the Capitol on Wednesday, July 22, for a&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":386316,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[132,134,133,1551,30022,129319,26719],"class_list":["post-386315","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-austin","tag-austin","tag-austin-headlines","tag-austin-news","tag-feature","tag-immigration-customs-enforcement","tag-lorenzo-salgado-araujo","tag-texas-impact"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/386315","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=386315"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/386315\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/386316"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=386315"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=386315"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=386315"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}