clergy & faith leaderS’
toolbox for immigrant justice
- Start here
- Sacred Texts & Reflection
- Your Tradition
- Protect & Prepare
- Teach & Learn
- Advocate & Organize
- Vote & Civic Engagement
- St. Louis & Missouri
- Build This Together
- Before you rely on this
This is the first question almost every clergy person asks, and it deserves a written answer before it is an emergency: what happens if immigration agents come to my building, or to the door of someone in my congregation? Decide it with your congregational leadership and/or board now. Do not wait to make these decisions in moments of crisis.
Missouri — Start Here
The ACLU of Missouri’s “Guidance for Places of Worship: Immigration Enforcement” is one of the most useful downloads in this Toolbox. It is authoritative, written for Missouri, and it answers the questions clergy often ask. In summary, in its own words: places of worship “are not required and cannot be forced to enforce immigration laws.” Officials may enter public areas without a warrant. Private areas require a judicial warrant signed by a federal judge, presented in hard copy; it is vitally important to understand and teach all staff on your premises that “a deportation order or arrest order is not the same as a judicial warrant and does not permit an agent to enter.” It recommends marking public and private space with signage.
Print one for every person on your staff and board, and one for the office wall.
Six steps, updated January 2026. This is a great resource to print and have available for all your members. Available in multiple languages
This multi-lingual site is maintained by volunteers as a project of Ashrei. Tools are available by topics and language..
The religious-liberty argument for houses of worship, from the Law, Rights and Religion Project.
Current national guidance. Multiple languages available.
A Written Plan for Your Building
This is a template protocol for congregations prepared by the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship. Adopt it, adapt it, put it in a binder at the front desk.
This resource from the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship explains in detail the implications of the preliminary injunction. Take it to your vestry, board, session, or deacons for adoption.
Train greeters and office staff on identifying potentially harmful questions and how to respond in order to keep all members of your community safe. Ensure anyone who has the power to welcome someone into the building understands how to answer these questions, as they are the most likely people that any law enforcement agents will talk to first.
Excellent printable window and door signage prepared by the Immigrant Legal Resource Center. Print and post this immediately!
A second framework, useful to read alongside CBF’s.
Materials for the People in Your Pews
ILRC Red Cards are free, and they exist in 59 languages! The page says it plainly: “The Red Cards are FREE, there is no FEE!” They are card-sized — a person hands one to an agent instead of speaking. Order a box (or print them on your own), put them in the vestibule and the pew racks, and hand them to anyone who asks. If you do one thing from this page, do this!
Free to nonprofit and immigrant-serving organizations. Print-your-own PDFs for all 59 languages are on the same page.
The actual order form for nonprofits. Ashrei or your congregation can order in bulk. There is also an option linked here to pay a nominal fee from their preferred printer, if you’re able.
Make this plan available to your members. If you serve an impacted community, please contact Ashrei and/or the MICA Project to offer your congregation to host a preparedness workshop: families will receive free legal guidance to complete things like powers of attorney documents, discuss document storage, and finalize their family’s plan.
The most multilingual single flyer set we found. Print it in the languages your neighborhood actually speaks.
The one link to give someone who needs to self-serve: legal help, detention, TPS, DACA, mental health, benefits, employment.
Thirteen dated guides from the incredible National Immigrant Justice Center (NIJC). The detention and immigration-court ones may be most helpful for pastoral care concerns.
Clergy are often the first person asked, and the first person able to prevent scams from impacting our community. See additional location scam prevention resources below.
Rapid Response
STL Rapid Response Hotline — 314-370-7080, staffed 7am–7pm, seven days a week. This is the number to call when someone is detained, and the number to put on every wallet card, bulletin board and refrigerator in your congregation. The hotline is volunteer-led and managed by the Ashrei Foundation. When you call, an automated greeting offers two options. Press 1 to report suspected immigration enforcement activity you have witnessed — this transfers you to a separate community group that handles sighting reports and verification. Press 2 to reach a trained bilingual English/Spanish operator for help with a detention (other languages available as needed). Operators then activate whichever volunteer teams a family actually needs — attorneys, interpreters, locators, telecommunications navigators. The line also receives text messages, which matters for anyone who cannot safely speak aloud. Fliers are available for download and printing; please distribute widely. stlrapidresponse.org/hotline
A neighborhood alert system a congregation can adopt for the price of a box of whistles. Three short blasts: ICE present. Three long blasts: ICE detaining someone. Note: Please be sure your congregation is in relationship with the MICA Project and existing neighborhood defense groups before you introduce whistles as this tactic may cause unintentional harm if used without proper training and relationships.
April 2026. Step-by-step guide for congregants who witness enforcement; important to read and understand before you need to implement.
If no trainer is available, a lay leader can present these slides as-is. Free. Note: local organizations like the MICA Project are typically available to offer a similar training upon request.
Older (2020-era) but still a very relevant item in IIC’s toolkit archive.
Relevant to anyone joining a public action. English and Spanish.