Standing in Solidarity: HfHR Joins Actions to Confront ICE’s Cruelty
Yesterday was a powerful day of action across New York City as faith leaders, organizers, and elected officials came together to challenge the violence and cruelty of our immigration system. Hindus for Human Rights was proud to be part of this moment, with our team showing up in two different ways to stand alongside our immigrant neighbors.
Circling 26 Federal Plaza in Prayer
Our New York City Organizer, Vrinda Jagota, joined the New Sanctuary Coalition’s weekly Jericho Walk at 26 Federal Plaza, the building where ICE operates. Together with interfaith partners, Vrinda circled the building seven times, stopping to offer a prayer at each turn. This ritual walk draws on the biblical story of Jericho, symbolizing the spiritual act of bringing down walls of injustice through persistent, loving action.
This year alone, ICE has abducted more than 3,300 New Yorkers, many of whom are held in deplorable conditions after attending court hearings at 26 Federal Plaza. Yesterday’s walk was both a mourning of that reality and a collective call to resist.
Faith Leaders, Politicians, and Direct Action
While Vrinda was at the Jericho Walk, our Executive Director, Sunita Viswanath, joined a coalition of faith leaders—including Rev. Dr. Chloe Breyer, Rabbi Abby Stein, Rev. Junia Joplin, Rabbi Rachel Kahn-Troster and others—who accompanied a group of elected officials preparing for a direct action inside the building.
The faith leaders were not permitted past security. They gathered outside, prayed together, and sent the officials forward, blessing their courage. Once inside, New York City Comptroller Brad Lander, Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, and more than a dozen other city and state leaders sat down outside the 10th-floor holding cells where undocumented immigrants are detained. They unfurled a banner demanding access to the cells—and were met with force. DHS agents arrested eleven officials, including Lander and Williams, after these official had staged a dramatic act of civil disobedience by sitting outside the 10th-floor holding cells with a banner, refusing to move until they were granted access to see the undocumented immigrants detained inside.
A Movement Building Momentum
These actions are part of a growing movement to hold ICE accountable for their deplorable behavior towards our neighbors and to dismantle the systems profiting from immigrant detention and deportation. Climate refugees, families fleeing violence, and individuals simply seeking a better life are caught in a web spun by Big Oil, prison profiteers, and an inhumane immigration system.
Hindus for Human Rights stands with our interfaith partners in demanding an end to these abuses. Yesterday, our community witnessed both the power of prayerful resistance and the necessity of bold, direct action.
What Comes Next
The fight isn’t over. We invite our community to join this movement:
Follow local groups like @newsanctuarynsc, @sunrisenyc, and other grassroots partners leading these actions.
Show up for future Jericho Walks to embody hope and resistance through prayer and presence.
Call on your elected officials to demand ICE out of NYC and an end to the detention-to-deportation pipeline.
Yesterday’s actions remind us that faith and justice are inseparable. Together, we can tear down the walls of fear and cruelty—and build a world rooted in compassion and human dignity.