On Wednesday, July 28, the day Arizona's new immigration law went into effect, a rally was held on the sidewalk outside the San Francisco Federal Building which houses Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi’s San Francisco office. The crowd included representatives from many community groups, including labor unions, immigrant communities, San Francisco supervisors, and faith leaders from around the Bay Area.Bay Area religious leaders, including Rt. Rev. Marc Andrus, Episcopal bishop of California, led the crowd in a prayer for the protection of families living in fear of deportation. Following this, a group of mostly clergy carrying signs with slogans such as "Who would Jesus deport?" and "Love the immigrant as
yourself! Lev. (19:33–34)," walked into the middle of 7th Street and sat down. This civil disobedience had been negotiated with the San Francisco Police Department in advance. The police, anticipating street closure, moved quickly to redirect traffic around the block at 7th and Mission Streets and they escorted the protesting clergy, one-by-one, out of the street.Religious leaders arrested were from various denominations including Catholic, Episcopal, Presbyterian, United Methodist, and United Church of Christ. Others arrested included leaders of several immigrant legal and service organizations. In total, there were 19 arrests.
The protest, organized by the Interfaith Coalition for Immigrant Rights, CLUE-CA, demonstrated the grave concern held by the religious community over the 1100 deportations taking place each day, numbers higher than at the end of the Bush administration. The rally called on elected officials, Rep. Pelosi and Congress to have moral courage to address the ongoing brokenness of the immigration system with practical and humane solutions.
