On Friday, August 28, 2026, I represented UUSJ at a Faithful Witnessing event in Springfield, Ohio. 

Faithful Witnessing: Unshackle Springfield was an interfaith event led by Haitian immigrants and other faith leaders in Springfield. Faith groups were asked to go to Springfield to support local faith leaders in defending Haitian churches, particularly Haitian pastors who have been detained by ICE, supporting and standing with the Haitian community, and sharing with the world their tragic story. 

I felt like I was part of something of transcendent importance in working with the other people who were there. 

I called Ohio’s Governor, our two US Senators, and the US congressman representing Springfield. We urged them to support removing two Haitian pastors from detention and preventing their deportation. After my calls, I spent most of the day texting or emailing many personal contacts pre-prepared information on how they could make similar calls. I helped pack food for immigrants who are often afraid to leave their homes.

We followed local leaders, especially Haitians.  

Faithful Witnessing concluded with a public action at the city square in downtown Springfield on Sunday, August 30, at noon. It included a “Jericho March” around City Hall. 

Pablo DeJesús and I attended an evening bilingual church service. The service expressed, in song and words, the hope and fear many felt. The wife of one of the detained pastors spoke of how she wanted her husband back. There was a reading of the Immigrant’s Creed. The creed includes the following: “I believe that the communion of the saints begins when we accept the diversity of the saints.” 

 

(Also see TPS Solidarity in Springfield, Ohio, Siding with the Haitian Community by Pablo Pablo DeJesús)