Oppose additional funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and other immigration enforcement in the Fiscal Year (FY) 2026 Homeland Security budget. 

Congress is currently negotiating the FY26 Homeland Security Appropriations Act. The bill funds the operations of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Patrol (CBP), agencies whose aggressive presence in Minnesota in recent weeks led to the killing of Renee Nicole Good and Alex Pretti, the detention of children, refugees, and U.S. citizens, and caused both widespread fear and faith-filled resistance.  

The six ELCA bishops in the state of Minnesota wrote recently: “We know that all our neighbors bear the image of God… We also know there are voices around us that challenge the truth of who we are and who our neighbors are. It is our fervent hope that every one of us would remain deeply rooted in our identity as God’s beloved.” 

Ask Congress to protect our neighbors by prioritizing accountability for ICE, not additional funding for actions that are harming our communities.

Make your message to Congress more impactful by personalizing it below.

Note: This Action Alert is an update to an alert sent January 15, 2026 before the House vote.

Call your member of Congress. You can use the talking points in the action alert or ecumenical letter, with some framing highlighted below:

• Reforms to immigration enforcement are URGENT. Federal agents are committing violence in our communities with impunity and lack the oversight or accountabilitythat we need to protect our communities. Business as usual is not acceptable.
• We want to see meaningful policy changes, including [highlight the changes most important to you – i.e. end arrests without a warrant and racial profiling, require independent investigation into the killings of Good and Pretti, codify protections for our churches and sacred spaces from immigration enforcement]
• We don’t want an endless shutdown or patchwork continuing resolutions funding this agency in increments of days or weeks. Negotiate the protections that your constituents want to see and pass a funding bill through the end of Fiscal Year 2026.

Six weeks of live, free webinars will offer pragmatic and informative sessions to help faith and community leaders address needs emerging from disasters and other crises. Webinars are scheduled for Tuesdays, March 24 through April 28, 2026, 10:00 am – 11:30 AM Central time and are appropriate for all levels of experience and expertise.

One registration for all sessions: When you submit this registration, you are registering to receive webinar links and reminder emails for all webinars in this series. Attend as many you are available. For details and more information about webinars, go to the Webinar Hub at crisiscareministries.net.

Schedule at a glance, 10 AM – 11:30 AM Central (US and Canada):

• March 24, 2026 – “Calm in Crisis”
• March 31, 2026 – “Talk Saves Lives” (suicide prevention)
• April 7, 2026 – “Responding with Care: A Trauma-Informed Approach to Disaster Response for Diverse Communities”
• April 14, 2026 – “Risk and Protective Factors”
• April 21, 2026 – “Tools for Building Resilience”
• April 28, 2026 – “Emotional and Spiritual Care in Human-Caused Disasters”

Webinars will not be recorded.

Weekly bonus shared reflection time: Following each 90-minute webinar session, participants are invited to stay for a bonus 15-minute guided reflection led by the BELOVED Compassion Network (belovedcompassionnetwork.org) to strengthen our sense of grounding and connectedness with the Sacred Source of Compassion.  These contemplative practices will cultivate deeper compassion for self and others, for more compassionate and effective caregiving in disaster recovery.

This series is brought to you by collaborative organizations including: Church World Service, Crisis Care Ministries, International Orthodox Christian Charities, Lutheran Disaster Response, Oklahoma Conference of the United Methodist Church, Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services, Prevention Division, Presbyterian Disaster Assistance – PC (USA), United Church of Christ, Week of Compassion, Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), with additional support from the Center for Disaster Philanthropy

Are you looking for a Lenten resource? Check out the ELCA Sumud’s 2026 Lenten series, “Body of Christ”! This series lifts up Palestinian Christians as an inseparable and equal part of the Body of Christ, whose witness and oppression demand our attention and solidarity. View the resource HERE!

Loving God, we give you thanks for Black history, Black culture, and Black lives, and for the wisdom, courage, creativity, and resilience that have shaped our communities, our church, and our world.

Give us strength, humility, and penitent hearts so we may acknowledge our nation’s history and the mistreatment of people based on ancestry, race, religion, and perceived differences.

We thank you for ancestors who endured, for leaders who dreamed and organized, for artists, teachers, caregivers, and prophets who spoke truth, created beauty, and worked for justice even when the cost was high.

We are grateful for the faith of Black communities—for songs sung in sorrow and in hope, for prayers whispered and proclaimed, for a trust in you that has carried generations forward.

We give thanks that our sins and weaknesses are met with your immense grace, and that your Spirit is at work even now, bringing change and newness within us, within our church, and throughout our society. Amen.

Resources for Black History Month:

List of Books Curated by Sparkhouse

28 Days of Black History

Read “See Me, Believe Me” by The Rev. Dr. Yolanda Denson-Byers – In this book, she offers an honest and unflinching look at the challenges faced by leaders of color in the predominantly white ELCA.

Watch Joe Davis’ Interview on Art on a Conduit of Collective Liberation

Check out our list of racial justice organizations, ELCA educational materials, and ministries

View ELCA Talks At The Desk – This video series explores diverse expressions of the church. Three seasons are currently available and can be used individually or as a group study.

Join ecumenical and interfaith leaders and communities in a public witness on Wed. Feb. 25 grounded in worship, moral courage and solidarity with our neighbors. Register to join virtually the many who will be present in Washington, D.C. for worship and peaceful procession. Register Now: https://ow.ly/QK9t50Y1OO1