Recognizing immigrants’ fear, uncertainty and pain triggered by the presence of masked federal agents, police officers and the National Guard in their city, a leader with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints made a rare request of members in Los Angeles.
Brian Ames, president of the church’s Los Angeles Stake (which includes a number of congregations), announced that the group would hold a “special stake fast” this weekend.
The purpose, Ames wrote in an email that was sent in English and Spanish, was to “seek heaven’s help; bring comfort to those in need; request the power of Jesus Christ in our lives; and help each of us be peacemakers and build unity.”
In the email, the lay leader — whose stake includes three Spanish-speaking congregations with many immigrants — assured those “who lie awake at night wondering about your future, to those who fear for your families, to those who feel the weight of uncertainty pressing down upon you — please know that you are not alone.”
Immigrant Latter-day Saints “have a loving ward and stake family who stand with you,” Ames wrote. “Regardless of your immigration status, you are our beloved sisters and brothers, precious children of our Heavenly Father. … Your worth, your value, your place in God’s family is not determined by documentation, political affiliation, or any earthly circumstance. You are children of the Most High God, and that identity is eternal and unchanging.”
Immigrant members of the stake “do not need our judgment. They need to experience the pure love of Jesus Christ reflected in our words and actions,” the message said. “If someone has different political or social views that challenge our beliefs, ‘an angry, cutting retort’ will not help.”
Ames condemned “any racist, demeaning, hateful comments or rhetoric by anyone, especially by members of the church. Such behavior is contrary to the gospel of Jesus Christ and has no place among us.”
Latter-day Saints in the region should be “the light on the hill that cannot be hid,” he urged. “Let us show the world what true disciples of Jesus Christ look like — how we speak, how we act, and how we love one another, especially in difficult times.”
Charles Kuck, a Latter-day Saint immigration attorney in Atlanta, applauded this effort.
“It is Christianity writ large,” Kuck wrote in a text to The Salt Lake Tribune. “Exactly what the Lord wants us doing in 2025 as a start.”
This “fasting and prayer,” the lawyer said, “should turn into action. Action to press Congress to fix a problem that is easily fixed with political courage.”
Maybe, Kuck added, Latter-day Saints “need to include politicians in our prayers.”
Immigration and the church
Not long after Donald Trump’s return to the White House, the Utah-based faith issued a news release reiterating long-standing principles that “guide the church’s approach” to immigration issues.
They are:
• Obedience to the law.
• Loving “all God’s children.”
• Providing “basic food and clothing, as our capacity allows, to those in need, regardless of their immigration status.”
• Keeping families together.
In addition to emphasizing principles of love, law and family, the global faith of 17.5 million members encouraged bishops and other local lay leaders to consult with the faith’s attorneys on how to deal with immigrants lacking permanent legal status in their congregations.
“The Office of General Counsel has created guidelines to help local leaders comply with federal laws that criminalize harboring, transporting or encouraging undocumented immigrants to remain in the United States,” the release said. Church lawyers continue to “carefully track legal developments to ensure local outreach and area-initiated humanitarian activities are appropriate.”
Latter-day Saint leaders in L.A. seem to have followed those instructions.
In Ames’ email, he mentioned that the church and its members can provide humanitarian services such as food and housing.
“Temporal needs have increased meaningfully in our stake due to the current environment and we ask that if you are in a position to do so, please be generous in your fast offering,” the stake president wrote to members. “...God wants us to be agents to act and not be acted upon. You don’t need to be commanded in all things. You don’t need to be assigned to minister. Pray and ask God how he needs you to consecrate your time, talents, and resources, and then act upon your personal revelation.”
‘Not been raided — yet’
Ricardo Osorio, a Latter-day Saint student at Claremont Graduate University and a legal resident, belongs to an adjacent stake in East Los Angeles.
Heeding the church’s advice, he has been collecting goods from food banks, he said, and taking them to immigrant members in their homes.
Osorio describes himself as an “immigration activist,” who has marched in protests against the actions of Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
“Our L.A. wards have not been raided — yet,” Osorio said, but he and others have organized “ushers” to watch gates to the church to ensure no ICE officers are allowed inside.
“It really scares me,” he said. The church’s “locator” map could “filter for Spanish wards.”
Members in East LA “are extremely vulnerable,” he said. “The stake canceled most communal gatherings, but has not suspended church services.”
Many members in the wealthier areas of Southern California have the impression, he said, that “an undocumented resident would be unable to be baptized, hold a calling or be a bishop.”
Those assumptions are “patently false,” he said. He would like to see the church disavow them publicly and speak out more strongly against the separation of families.
He is pleased, however, with the L.A. stake’s one-day fast.
For his part, Osorio is not afraid for his safety, he said. “I am comfortable being arrested — if it comes to that.”
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