A March 18 encounter with federal agents left a North Carolina refugee ministry and its network of supporting congregations rattled but determined as ever “to continue serving the stranger in our community,” said Marc Wyatt, director of Welcome House Raleigh.
“What we take away from yesterday is that we need to be compassionately vigilant. For us, this is a wake-up call as we continue to help new immigrants in our country learn to speak English, to share space with them and to love them,” the Baptist missions leader said.
The two-hour situation began around 9 a.m. when a dozen unmarked law enforcement vehicles staged in the parking lot of a partner church where English as a Second Language classes are offered to immigrants and refugees. An officer entered the church to inform the secretary the U.S. Marshals were on a stakeout in search of a wanted criminal, Wyatt said.
Kim and Marc Wyatt
“The secretary and a church member present at the time were not alarmed by that. They just heard it as information. But when (Welcome House) staff members heard this, they became concerned for the folks who would be coming to the class,” Wyatt explained.
Neither the church, which Wyatt declined to identify, nor Welcome House Raleigh were informed if the agents were after an ESL class member or a Spanish-speaking worker at a nearby construction site, Wyatt said. The vehicles departed the parking lot around 11 a.m.
Welcome House is a ministry of CBF North Carolina, part of a national network of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, which recently won a court injunction against the Trump administration that prevents immigration police from entering houses of worship affiliated with CBF.
Wyatt explained what happened next: “We canceled the class because we weren’t sure what was going on. We called our other (ESL) locations and our clients in their homes and informed them they don’t have to speak to anyone or open their doors for anyone. We had the church lock its doors and remove all signage about ESL classes and times. We basically treated it as if they were targeting our students just to be diligent.”
“We basically treated it as if they were targeting our students just to be diligent.”
Wyatt also posted a summary of the event on Facebook so other partners and ministries would be alerted.
The heightened concern stems from the Trump administration’s assault on immigration and refugee resettlement in the U.S., and specifically from its January decision to rescind the longstanding ban on immigration raids in sensitive locations such as churches, schools and hospitals.
Civil rights organizations, immigration advocates and religious groups have developed guidelines to help institutions navigate encounters with law enforcement, including how to read warrants and how to designate off-limits spaces.
Litigation also has been filed. In February, CBF and Sikh groups joined a coalition of Quaker meetings in a Democracy Forward lawsuit against the administration’s new sensitive locations policy. A federal judge subsequently blocked the Department of Homeland Security from conducting raids in facilities operated by those groups.
Paul Baxley
“The recent revocation of the sensitive location status is already harming the ministries of many of our congregations, the work of our field personnel and the life of our Fellowship,” CBF Executive Coordinator Paul Baxley said when the suit was joined.
“As a Fellowship, we have experienced a clear and unmistakable calling to be a community that is more racially, ethnically, generationally and geographically diverse as we believe this reflects the mission of God and the character of Jesus. The revocation of sensitive location status for houses of worship has also harmed our capacity to live into that divine calling,” Baxley said.
CBF North Carolina, which runs Welcome House, has committed to continue supporting refugees and immigrants since Trump suspended refugee resettlement, eliminated the asylum process and began a campaign of mass deportations.
“We will adapt and pivot. We will continue to partner with refugee resettlement agencies who serve our friends and neighbors already here,” leaders of the state organization proclaimed in January. “We will wrap our arms around the vulnerable and ensure their voices are heard.”
Larry Hovis
CBFNC Executive Coordinator Larry Hovis expressed dismay that federal agents recently used the property of a partner congregation to conduct surveillance.
“Churches are supposed to be safe spaces for us to share God’s word and God’s love. I’m grateful that no one was harmed but I am concerned for the sanctity of this church and others who are involved in serving our state,” he said. “I’m also grateful for the court order that protects our churches to minister to their neighbors without the fear of warrantless raids for immigration enforcement.”
The encounter has helped Welcome House, its volunteers and churches become better prepared in case clients are targeted by federal agents, said Kim Wyatt, who along with husband Marc Wyatt co-founded the wider Welcome Network to provide temporary housing, ESL and other services to refugees and immigrants across the state. She also serves as CBF field personnel.
“Having that happen helped us to realize that we and our ESL students and our Welcome House guests need to be prepared to be prepared,” she said. “Communication is the key because we don’t want anything to happen in the dark or in silence. If something happens to one of our neighbors, we want to be able to go and stand with them.”
Marc Wyatt emphasized the agents never acted rudely or threateningly, didn’t detain or arrest anyone and were professional in informing the church secretary of their actions.
“We don’t want to vilify the officers, but our staff was shaken and they wanted to pray, so we prayed for calm and wisdom,” he said.
Wyatt admitted he also was shaken by the incident. “I feel like I was in a car accident 24 hours ago and I am just trying to sort out what I went through. The good news is no one was hurt, but it was a surreal moment. Today looking back, I don’t want to vilify anybody, but we are in a moment when it’s not clear who you can have confidence in.”
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