- John Schultz | Staff
- Jan 27, 2026 (dailycal.org)
Two hundred Bay Area faith leaders representing more than 45 faith-based organizations participated in a fast Thursday to raise awareness in the wake of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, activity in Minneapolis and around the country. Other clergy traveled to Minneapolis to partake in large-scale protests last Friday.
The fast, organized by the Interfaith Movement for Human Integrity, began at a demonstration at San Francisco City Hall and lasted 24 hours. Berkeley churches, such as First Presbyterian Church of Berkeley, took part in the fast along with other Bay Area places of worship.
The fast ended with a demonstration at the San Francisco ICE field office to prevent a community leader from being detained by the agency. According to the Rev. Ranwa Hammamy, congregational justice organizer at the Unitarian Universalist Association, they think many of the fast participants “are folks who have either been activated or had their awareness raised as a result of what they witnessed with Renee Good.”
Following a national call for clergy from Multifaith Antiracism, Change and Healing Minnesota, a group of clergy and faith leaders based in the Minneapolis area, the Rev. Drew Paton of First Presbyterian Church of Berkeley traveled to Minneapolis to take part in the Jan. 23 protests against ICE. Paton said he thinks the clergy’s presence calmed the tensions at the protest.
“Our main objective is really just letting folks know that they are not alone,” Paton said. “I think sometimes having clergy present helps to create a bit of a buffer and slow things down and de-escalate things a bit.”
According to the Rev. Leah Martens of Haven Berkeley Faith Community, about 20 Bay Area faith leaders came to Minneapolis as part of the call, joining hundreds of faith leaders nationwide.
Along with attending the protests, Paton said he went on patrol with local activists to observe ICE arrests. While he didn’t see ICE detaining anyone, Paton said he did see the tactics ICE agents used against protesters.
“I witnessed with my own eyes these roving bands of masked, heavily armed men in body armor in the streets, deploying tear gas against nonviolent protesters and spraying bystanders in the face with pepper spray,” Paton said.
Paton joined protesters at a Minneapolis federal building, a flagship Target store in downtown Minneapolis and a large march downtown, which tens of thousands of people attended.
He added that his church is new to this kind of activism, and that many of his congregants’ first protests were in the past year.
“The good news is that how we beat this is, it turns out, the oldest, simplest things that we have always done: To care for each other and to keep each other safe,” Paton said. “It’s just making sure that we’re fed. It’s just caring for each other when we’re hurt.”
