Faith Leaders Stand With Labor Unions and Community Organizations to Protect New York City from Federal Attacks
The Interfaith Center of New York is proud to partner with Hands Off NYC, a broad coalition working to protect our city from federal encroachment, defend civil and human rights, and ensure that all New Yorkers can live with dignity and safety. With our partners at Common Cause New York and congregations throughout the city, we are organizing faith leaders and training faith communities to stand together against an increasingly authoritarian federal government.
We ask you to join us in this essential work. Religious communities have critical roles to play in the defense of democracy and the struggle against authoritarianism. Across our diverse faith traditions, we are called to care for our neighbors, resist unjust power, and defend human dignity. Drawing on the shared wisdom of our traditions, we say in one voice: Hands Off NYC!
Contact ICNY’s Hands Off Faith Organizer Danielle Williams at danielle@interfaithcenter.org or faith@handsoffnyc.com, to learn how you and your community can get involved. This page outlines the trainings, resources, support networks, and advocacy opportunities we currently offer, but it’s not an exhaustive list. Please let us know how we can support your community in these challenging times.
Trainings
In partnership with trusted educators, organizers, and attorneys, we are equipping faith communities with practical tools to protect themselves and their neighbors. Available trainings include:
- Know Your Rights — Trainings to help you protect yourself, your family, and your community during interactions with ICE and other federal law enforcement agencies
- Community Safety and ICE Defense — Trainings for individuals and congregations working to support those impacted by ICE enforcement, including rapid response, ICE watch, mutual aid, and accompaniment
- Discerning Sanctuary: Legal Considerations — Trainings for congregational and community leaders, to help you create safe spaces for all New Yorkers, and respond effectively if ICE knocks on your door
- Legal Education for Immigrant Advocates — Trainings for attorneys, pro se clinics, and other legal advocates supporting new New Yorkers in immigration proceedings
Trainings can be offered in-person or online, hosted at your house of worship or coordinated regionally. We work to tailor trainings to language, culture, and community needs. To request a training, email danielle@interfaithcenter.org or faith@handsoffnyc.com.
Network Building
The Hands Off Faith Table meets once per month on Thursday evenings at houses of worship and other meeting spaces throughout the city. The Faith Table convenes clergy, lay leaders, and faith-rooted activists to share information, strengthen relationships, and coordinate activities city-wide. Together, participants:
- share what they are seeing on the ground
- learn about resources, trainings, and legal updates
- collaborate on advocacy actions and public witness
- build multifaith solidarity across boroughs
As we have seen in Los Angeles, Chicago, Minneapolis, and elsewhere, relationships among diverse neighbors are essential for community safety, dignity, and resilience in the face of federal attack. We invite you to join us. To receive Faith Table invitations and updates, email danielle@interfaithcenter.org or faith@handsoffnyc.com.
Also visit handsoffnyc.com/get-involved for more ways to get involved, with network building opportunities for individuals, families, small businesses, and others.
Public Witness
ICNY and our partner organizations offer two regular, weekly opportunities for public witness, multifaith prayer, and community-building. Please join us for:
Multifaith Mondays: Moral Witness for Democracy — Every Monday, rain or shine, 5:30 – 6:00 pm, at Columbus Circle, 59th Street and Central Park West. Since March 3, 2025, the Multifaith Monday vigils have served as a sacred space for collective lament, prophetic resistance, and multifaith community-building in a time of deep division and threat to America’s democratic values. Click here to learn more, or just join us next Monday!
- The Beacon: Shine The Light — Every Thursday afternoon or evening, in neighborhoods throughout NYC and beyond. Make a sign that boldly expresses your concerns, invite your friends, and take to the streets in your own community to stand up for the democracy you want to see. Click here to learn more, find a list of ongoing Shine the Light vigils, and find tools to create your own. Let your light shine!
Resources
ICNY is developing a range of resources to support faith-based resistance to authoritarianism, in New York City and beyond. Click the links below to learn more and find free resources, including:
Legal resources prepared by ICNY Chief Counsel Eugene Nam:
- Community Response to ICE Arrest: A Step-by-step Guide — How communities can locate the detained member, coordinate assistance, and support applications for release like bail, parole, and habeas corpus.
- Respuesta comunitaria al arresto de ICE: Guía paso a paso — Cómo las comunidades pueden localizar al miembro detenido, coordinar la asistencia y apoyar solicitudes de liberación como fianza, libertad condicional y habeas corpus.
- Legal Guide for Congregations Serving as Sanctuaries for Immigrants — How communities can deliver religious and social services while minimizing the risk of disruption by ICE, meet the legal needs of immigrant communities, and advocate for their rights.
- Protecting Religious Spaces from ICE Raids — How communities can exercise their constitutional rights and more safely deliver religious and social services for immigrants.
A collection of videos from the December 4, 2025, Religious Resistance to Authoritarianism conference held by ICNY, Union Theological Seminary, Riverside Church, The Beacon, and the Interfaith Alliance, including:
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Opening Prayer and Welcome
Rev. Adriene Thorne, Senior Minister, The Riverside Church; Rev. Dr. Chloe Breyer, Executive Director, Interfaith Center of New York |
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Keynote Address: Religion and Authoritarianism
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Dr. David Greenberg, Professor of History, Journalism, and Media Studies at Rutgers University, and author of John Lewis: A Life; Dr. Michael Lee, Professor of Theology and Latin American Studies at Fordham University, and author of Revolutionary Saint: The Theological Legacy of Óscar Romero; Dr. Kim Shively, Professor Emerita of Anthropology at Kutztown University, and author of Islam in Modern Turkey; Dr. Duncan Ryuken Williams, Professor of Religion and Japanese Studies at the University of Southern California, Buddhist priest in the Soto Zen tradition, and author of American Sutra: A Story of Faith and Freedom in the Second World War |
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Multifaith Prayers and Call to Action
Sunita Viswanath, Executive Director, Hindus for Human Rights; Dr. Hussein Rashid, Adjunct Professor of Interreligious Engagement at Union Theological Seminary, and Board Member of the Interfaith Center of New York; Ruth Messinger, Global Ambassador and former President of American Jewish World Service, former City Council Member and Manhattan Borough President, and Co-Chair of the Board of the Interfaith Center of New York |
Additional resources from ICNY and other organizations:
- Essential Readings on faith-based and secular resistance to authoritarianism
- No Kings Interfaith Gathering Toolkit — Practical advice for creating an interfaith vigil, from our colleagues at the Interfaith Alliance.
- The Faithful Fight — Toolkits for faith communities to counter authoritarianism, prepared by Protect Democracy and the Horizons Project
If you have questions about these materials, or suggestions for additional resources, contact ICNY’s Director of Programs Dr. Henry Goldschmidt at henry@interfaithcenter.org.
