This page provides updates from our church staff regarding immigration enforcement activities and resources for our community, including updates for the congregation, ways to support immigrant families in our area, contact information for our state leaders and a sample letter to email and/or mail. The work we do as a community makes a difference. Thank you!

July 27, 2025

Lunch & Learn with Mr. Jeremy McKinney, Attorney At Law, McKinney Immigration Law

Jeremy L. McKinney is a North Carolina Board Certified Immigration Law Specialist and founder of McKinney Immigration Law in Greensboro. He was the 2022-2023 AILA National President, a former chair of AILA’s EOIR and ICE Liaison Committees, and currently serves on the AILA Board of Governors (BOG). He testified before Congress in both 2020 and 2023 on the need for an independent immigration court system. McKinney is a former U.S. Army Captain and trial counsel.

What Should We Do?: Preparing for an Immigration Emergency

Part One – How Did We Get Here?

1. A system stuck in the past

Congress last overhauled immigration in 1996. Since then, life, labor markets, and global migration patterns changed. The law didn’t. Attempts to reform and update our laws by Republican George W. Bush and Democrat Barrack Obama both failed to get through Congress.

People who overstayed and then leave to “fix it” get slammed by three‑year, ten‑year, even permanent bars. So they don’t leave.

For millions, there isn’t a visa line to stand in. H‑2A is seasonal farm work. H‑2B is capped and “temporary.” Construction, hospitality, landscaping—year‑round industries—have nothing that actually fits.

Hundreds of thousands live in legal limbo under programs like DACA, TPS, or humanitarian parole: allowed to be here and work but blocked from any stable end point.

2. The White House chose all‑out restrictionism

I’ve practiced under Democrats and Republicans. Every president had a mix—some generous, some harsh. Until now. This administration is not just cracking down on unauthorized immigration; it is choking off lawful immigration too. If there’s a doorway, they’re nailing it shut. If there’s discretion to show mercy, they’re scrapping it.

They gutted prosecutorial discretion, moved to terminate TPS and parole programs mid‑stream, yanked deferred action from abused and abandoned kids waiting in the SIJ backlog, pushed a birthright citizenship executive order, rolled out civil fines, and argued that long‑time residents who crossed a border years ago can’t even ask a judge for bond.

3. Weaponizing harsh laws to maximize fear

Expedited removal is now nationwide: if you can’t prove two years here, an officer—not a judge—can order you out.

ICE is pushing mandatory detention arguments for anyone who entered without inspection.

Agents are showing up masked, unmarked, and grabbing people off sidewalks. The message is: be afraid.

4. Panic is the point

If parents are too scared to send kids to school or answer the door, the government “wins” without court orders. Our job is to flip that script: get informed, get organized, stay calm.

Part Two – What Should We Do?

A. Know Your Rights (for everyone)

•Do not open the door unless you see a warrant signed by a judge with the correct name and address. ICE’s own forms are not enough. Talk through the door.

•You have the right to stay silent. Give your name if state law requires. You do not have to discuss where you were born, how you entered, or your status.

•Do not sign anything you do not understand, especially anything waiving a hearing or labeled voluntary departure. Ask for a lawyer.

•Carry a small Know Your Rights card. NILC, ACLU, and others have printable cards in multiple languages. Hand them out here at church.

•If stopped in public, ask if you are free to leave. If yes, walk away calmly. If not, say you are remaining silent and want a lawyer, then stop talking.

B. Registration vs. Constitutional rights

Federal law still says most non‑citizens 18 and over must register and carry proof of that registration at all times. That means a green card, I‑94 printout, EAD, advance parole document—whatever fits your status. Carrying it does not waive your right to silence or to keep your door closed.

If an officer lawfully demands to see it, you can show it through a window or under a door without letting them in or answering extra questions.

Many clients carry a high‑quality copy and a photo on their phone, keeping the original safe at home. That’s a calculated risk; prosecutions for not carrying the original are rare, but losing the only original can be a nightmare.

Undocumented folks generally cannot “register” without self‑incrimination—talk to a lawyer before doing anything.

Everyone should still file the AR‑11 address change within ten days of moving.

Bottom line to remember and repeat: carry your papers, assert your rights.

C. Family emergency plans

•Get powers of attorney and childcare consent forms in place so a trusted adult can pick up kids and make decisions.

•Build a go‑packet: copies of passports, birth certificates, A‑numbers, medical info, proof of years in the U.S. Give copies to someone you trust.

•Line up access to money for bond or emergencies.

D. Congregational action

Here’s what a church can do right now:

•Host regular KYR workshops in English, Spanish, and other needed languages with local partners.

•Create a rapid‑response phone or text tree. Train volunteers to document safely, verify warrants, and link families to lawyers.

•Be a sanctuary in practice. Even if DHS says there are no protected areas, you can set your own access rules and require judicial warrants. Train greeters and ushers on how to respond if officers show up.

•Support real legal help and bond money. Recommend vetted options:

1.Carolina Migrant Network – NC Immigrant Bond & Legal Defense Fund

2.Siembra NC Deportation Defense/Bond Fund

3.Charlotte Center for Legal Advocacy’s Immigrant Justice Program (legal services, not bond; still vital)

4.Freedom for Immigrants National Bond Fund

5.National Bail Fund Network – Immigration list (to locate vetted local funds)

6.RAICES Bond Fund

•Fight scams. Only licensed attorneys or DOJ‑accredited reps can give legal advice. Help folks verify credentials before they pay anyone.

E. Advocacy

Call and visit your representatives with concrete asks: roll back nationwide expedited removal, restore prosecutorial discretion, reinstate parole programs, stop the civil fines rule, bring back protected areas, and fund counsel for children. Faith communities carrying real stories move needle‑averse politicians.

The title of this talk was a question. The answer is: prepare, educate, stand next to people when the knock comes, and refuse to let fear do the government’s work.

July 10, 2025

Please follow this link to read important updates from Val.

A Provocation and A Confession
Bishop Ken Carter
From a Facebook post, June 16, 2025

Here goes. The few friends I might offend with this *truth* are less important than the nation I hope my daughters and granddaughters continue to live in. I am on the side of life and not death. So, naming it:

+ The police this week became the secret police in L.A.

+ The military turned on our own citizens.

+ The sad reality of the assassination of Speaker Melissa Hortman, scout volunteer and Sunday school teacher, was, and this is not easy for me to say: I was not surprised that the killer a) had attended MAGA rallies and b was active in an evangelical church. If this proves not to be the case I will retract this.

+Dehumanization, Violence and Jesus is a toxic mix.

+There is no bi-partisan response from government to this, no humane or meaningful response from elite institutions such as corporations, universities and law firms.

+Massive, multi-million person non-violent gatherings of public witness were held across the nation on Saturday. This is healthy and is protected in our *constitution*: freedom of speech, the right to assemble (first amendment).

+If this is the administration of your dreams, write about it on your own FB page and I will learn from you. I have blindspots. And if Jesus is relevant to any of this, begin with the beatitudes (Matthew 5).

+The way of the cross is non-violence, peace and the beloved community.

+Lastly, my inner work is to be less violent, more peaceful and more committed to the beloved community, even when I might prefer to detach and go it alone. I have work to do.

+So if you have read this far—-red or blue, people of faith or no faith, young or old—let’s pivot from this ugly moment in the United States. We must name the reality in order to be clear about how we live in an alternative way—do not be conformed by the world but be transformed by the renewing of your minds (Romans 12).

+All appearances to the contrary, let there be peace on earth. Let it begin with me.

May 22, 2025 

Dear Friends,

We at First UMC have been dedicated to assisting immigrants and refugees for decades—from supplying office space and resources for the Cambodian congregation to providing time, energy, and resources to so many families arriving to pursue dreams of stability as they flee war, famine, and poverty in so many regions of the world. We assist because we know that each person is a beloved child of God and deserves dignity, respect, and the possibility of abundant life.

These past days we have witnessed an increase in ICE activity that we believe violates our biblical mandate to welcome the stranger. Earlier in the week we received news that ICE had detained a father of three children, and his brother and sister-in-law. This left the three children with their mother who had just returned from surgery the day before. The 12 year old daughter is now trying to manage caregiving and running the household. We have joined with many others to provide for their immediate needs—several have covered utilities, and advocates are requesting food and Wal-Mart gift certificates. First UMC is covering their rent with funds from our Refugee Ministries account.

On Tuesday, 11 ICE vehicles pulled into the parking lot of Central UMC on Albemarle Road as the children in the bilingual preschool were about to be dismissed. The staff brought them back inside, and each parent came in one by one to retrieve their child. One car was pulled over and the person questioned for about 30 minutes, and then allowed to continue on. The intimidation tactic succeeded: a third of the children did not come back to school on Wednesday.

Our Metro District Superintendent called a clergy meeting Wednesday morning to brief us on this incident and to help us prepare for possible ICE presence on our campuses. We already have a policy in place that only the ministerial staff is allowed to speak to ICE agents, and they are not allowed in any of our private spaces—which include our parking lots, CDC, offices, etc. If they want to worship, we can ask them to leave their weapons and badges in their vehicles. If they do come in, the main requirement is that we record everything, and go on record as denying them access if they don’t have the proper documentation. We now have new signs around the building designating our campus as private space.
 
We are in some chilling times! But there are some hopeful signs: our County Commissioners decried the actions of ICE around schools and churches, and are uniting with other groups to find alternatives to this intimidation and lack of due process.

Please join with others in our denomination in contacting our elected officials and requesting their support of efforts to limit the activity of ICE agents in our county, and in our country.

Blessings,
Val

The Charlotte Observer online, By Ryan Oehrli, May 23, 2025

Methodists to ICE in Charlotte: Our churches are not your staging ground

A local Methodist conference criticized Immigration and Customs Enforcement for its presence at an east Charlotte church this week. Armed agents “staged an operation” at Central United Methodist Church when preschoolers were being picked up, according to a statement from the Western North Carolina Conference of The United Methodist Church.

“While no one was detained and the agents eventually departed without incident, their presence on sacred ground disrupted the peace and instilled fear among staff, children, families, and congregants,” the statement said. Carolina Migrant Network, an organization that provides legal services, notified the public about ICE’s presence there on Tuesday. At a county commission meeting that evening, Commissioner Susan Rodriguez-McDowell called on ICE to “respect sensitive locations,” including the church. A spokesperson for ICE has not commented on the agency’s presence there. The Charlotte Observer again reached out Friday morning. “ICE enforcement activity on our church property interferes with our ability to welcome the stranger, serve our neighbors, and carry out the ministries that are central to our faith,” the conference said. “Churches should not be staging grounds for law enforcement. They are sacred spaces where the hurting find healing, the hungry are fed, and families — regardless of immigration status — come seeking peace.” Conference is already suing In February, that Huntersville-based conference joined dozens of Christian and Jewish denominations in suing the federal government.

The conference “faces an imminent risk of an immigration enforcement action at its churches,” according to the lawsuit. “Several of WNCC’s congregations have a heavy percentage of immigrant members and immigrants who benefit from social service ministries — such as ESL classes, soup kitchens, food pantries, clothing pantries, mobile showers, and tutoring programs — that they provide on their church campuses.” The conference has said it joined the lawsuit not for partisan reasons but because ICE of rescinding a policy that protected churches, and put congregations “at imminent risk of ICE raids that would disrupt worship, community service, and pastoral care.”

NC Governor Josh Stein


NC Senator Thom Tillis


NC Senator Ted Budd


NC Representative Alma Adams

NC General Assembly Main Contact Information

  • General Information: (919) 733-4111

  • Website: www.ncleg.gov

NC Key Leadership Contacts

Charlotte Mayor Vi Lyles

Sample letter to the NC leaders; feel free to copy and/or edit

As members of the United Methodist Church in North Carolina, we write with deep concern about reports of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations targeting schools in our communities. We urgently request your immediate action to protect our children and preserve the sanctity of educational spaces.

Schools must remain safe havens for all children, regardless of immigration status. When ICE conducts enforcement activities at or near schools, it creates an atmosphere of fear that disrupts learning, traumatizes students, and undermines the fundamental purpose of education. Children should never fear that attending school could result in family separation.

We ask you to:

  • Publicly oppose ICE enforcement activities at schools, school bus stops, and school-sponsored events

  • Work with federal authorities to reinstate and strengthen sensitive locations policies that protect educational institutions

  • Support legislation that formally designates schools as protected spaces

  • Advocate for comprehensive immigration reform that addresses root causes of family separation

Our faith calls us to welcome the stranger and protect the vulnerable. Every child deserves to learn in an environment free from fear. We trust in your leadership to stand with our communities and ensure that North Carolina's schools remain places of safety, learning, and hope for all children.

We respectfully request a response outlining the steps you will take to address this critical issue affecting our students, families, and communities.

In faith and solidarity,