Brigid O’Malley ’29
News Editor
On Friday, Nov. 7, Holy Cross students, faculty, and alumni spent their afternoon marching to Worcester City Hall. The Office of the College Chaplains, together with student groups including Pax Christi, the Muslim Student Association, and SGA, organized the event to protest the Trump administration’s treatment of migrants and refugees. The walk served both as a public witness and as a reminder of the Catholic and Jesuit commitments at the core of the college’s mission.
The gathering opened outside St. Joseph’s Chapel. Assistant chaplain Salena Ibrahim framed the event as a moment “to speak out against these brutal violations of human dignity and hospitality.” Students offered prayers in English and Spanish: “Merciful and loving God, may we always recognize your spirit in the refugee family seeking safety… in the unaccompanied child traveling alone in a dangerous world.”
The policy backdrop was clear. In July, President Trump signed the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA), which allocated $45 billion to the Department of Homeland Security and significantly expanded federal authority to detain and deport immigrants. The law supports family detention, shortens due process, and allows asylum seekers to be expelled to Mexico to await hearings.
To give those policies a human face, Chaplain Salena shared the story of Fernando, whom she met at an immigration center earlier this year. Brought to the U.S. at age two, a Houston resident for 35 years, and husband and father to two U.S. citizens, he was deported under OBBBA. He was moved from one detention facility to another with limited contact to his family before being left in Mexico, a country he had never been to. “How do I start over?” he asked. No one could offer a clear answer.
Bishop Mark Seitz of El Paso addressed the crowd next. “We have used in our country tactics that sound so much like the places we’ve heard of before… tactics to bring people into silence, to make them afraid. That is where we are right now.” He then challenged the assembly: “Are you ready to walk for those who cannot join us today?… to speak for those who cannot speak today?… to work for justice?” Each question was met with a resounding yes.
More than 100 participants then began the walk from campus to Worcester City Hall, singing “Sanctuary” and “Love Take a Walk With Me” along the way.
At City Hall, Associate Director of the Chaplains’ Office Marty Kelly welcomed what he described as “diverse communities of faith across Worcester.” He named the impact of current federal policy plainly: “Enforcement policies and practices that are unapologetically cruel… leave families fractured and uproot those who are part of the very fabric of our community.” He contrasted those practices with a shared religious ethic: “Across traditions, we find the sacred duty of hospitality… to welcome the stranger, protect the foreigner, and honor the guest.” Current rhetoric, he said, asks Americans to see immigrants as “a grave threat,” using “dehumanizing language” to obscure the humanity of “those fleeing violence and poverty.”
“This is why we are here,” he continued, “to bear witness… to speak truth, to unmask lies. We choose hope and unity over division and fear.”
Students then shared stories of migrants whose lives have been upended. One spoke about Anna and Bernardo, Salvadoran healthcare workers who have lived in the U.S. for nearly twenty years under Temporary Protected Status. Bernardo expressed the uncertainty facing TPS holders: “If we keep on looking at it, we’re going to sink in the water, just like Peter when he took his eyes off Jesus.” Another student told the story of Maria, a Guatemalan mother stranded in Mexico after the cancellation of her CBP One appointment, now confronting “violence and insecurity” while trying to protect her newborn.
Religious leaders from across Worcester offered reflections. Rev. Sarah Stewart prayed for “courage to overcome our fears” and for a community where migrants “may be safe and free.” Rabbi Norman Cohen cited the command from Leviticus: “When a stranger resides with you… you shall love him as yourself.” From the Quaker tradition, Halle Fields encouraged all to “walk cheerfully over the world, answering that of God in everyone.”
Benjamin Kuji, himself once a refugee, prayed that Worcester would build “spaces of belonging where fear is replaced by faith.” Father José Carvajal reminded the crowd that “every human being carries the image of God,” adding that when migrants are treated as problems instead of people, “we forget who we are.” A representative of the Worcester Islamic Center located migration within sacred history: “Humanity has always been a migrating people… Those who help are friends of God.”
Bishop of Worcester Robert McManus offered the final blessing, asking for “light and strength” and for unity rooted in justice.
The vigil ended with the crowd singing “We Shall Overcome.” Voices sang into the cold air: “O deep in my heart I do believe.” As demonstrators dispersed, and their voices began to fade out across the plaza, the gathering ended with a promise: that the work of welcoming, protecting, and standing in solidarity with migrants and refugees will continue in Worcester and at Holy Cross.
Featured image courtesy of Brigid O’Malley ’29
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