Albany (N.Y.) Meeting’s pictorial statement of faith, approved in November 2025, set up outside its meetinghouse on Madison Avenue in Albany. The display includes a list of six corporal works of mercy from Matthew 25, a painting of the LOVE sculpture by Robert Indiana, a banner with the words “Love Melts ICE,” and beneath that another banner depicting ICE agents arresting Our Lady of Guadalupe (hand painted by the author). All photos by the author.
Albany Friends Witness in Support of Immigrants
On September 30, 2025, a violent immigration raid conducted by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents took place at an apartment complex in the South Shore neighborhood of Chicago, Ill. The raid included Black Hawk helicopters with agents rappelling onto the roof and terrorizing residents by dragging them from their beds in the early morning hours. Viewing several news stories of heavily armed and masked ICE officers was chilling.
Many were detained and 37 were arrested in this raid, but when the terror ended, when the fear and dark shadows of intimidation and deportation receded, no one was charged by the authorities. These are extremely troubled times. Brown-skinned people are often the primary targets, and people can be stopped simply for speaking Spanish. The Fourth Amendment clearly states, “The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated . . .” When our government routinely violates the law, particularly the First and Fourth Amendments, all of us are threatened.
Members of my meeting, Albany (N.Y.) Meeting, have connections with the local immigrant community and have been vigilant in keeping a watchful eye on the situation in order to prevent unlawful intrusion by ICE. During a business meeting in November 2025, the meeting approved a pictorial statement of faith that includes a list of six corporal works of mercy from Matthew 25, a painting of the famous LOVE sculpture by Robert Indiana, a banner with the words “Love Melts ICE,” and beneath that another banner depicting ICE agents arresting Our Lady of Guadalupe (hand painted by myself). This vibrant and eye-catching display is set up outside the meetinghouse every Sunday: voicing hope, healing, care, and respect for the dignity of the community. On weekdays, a smaller “Love Melts ICE” banner is on display.
“Love Melts ICE” sign outside of Albany Meetinghouse in Albany, N.Y.
Meeting members John Cutro and Anne Liske, caretakers of the meetinghouse, are both involved in work that supports the immigrant community. John is a restorative justice practitioner and consultant to the West Hill Refugee Welcome Center in Albany, founded in 2016. Since the recent increase of ICE activity in the area, he has seen dramatic impacts on the population the center serves. He reports that folks in need of food assistance are now afraid to pick up important supplies. Additionally, attendance for the center’s English as a Second Language (ESL) classes dropped sharply, leading to the program being effectively shut down—at least temporarily.
On one occasion, John interacted with ICE agents while in line at the store, with one telling him, “I shouldn’t have to wear a mask if I am doing this job properly.” John also commented on the mask’s functions: not only is it worn as a tactic of intimidation and to hide the agent’s identity, it also serves to hide any expressions of pain on the agent’s face as they carry out jobs they might not agree with.
Anne spoke to the importance and inspiration of public witnessing by early Friends: their work and influence on establishing religious freedom, legal representation, abolishing slavery, and testifying for peace and against war. Quaker meetings in the United States today are often involved in grass-roots activism, addressing numerous social concerns, such as climate justice, racism, and LGBTQ+ rights. Anne believes faith communities have both a responsibility and a moral obligation to speak out.
She has been quite concerned with the negative impact ICE is having on a nursing program that provides much-needed support for young immigrant mothers and their infants. This group helps mothers by teaching practical mothering skills and by simply supporting and comforting them in their experience of the joys and difficulties of caring for their babies in a particularly stressful time.
Since Albany Meeting began displaying its visual statement of faith last November, there has been a small but noticeable increase in attendance. Meeting members seem empowered by the signs, and other local faith communities have also commented favorably. Some members are particularly pleased with the list of six works of mercy, and many strongly feel the need to protect the sanctity of the meeting and its attenders. There is also a concern that a small yet significant number of folks are still in a state of deep denial, failing to realize how dangerous our situation remains.
The display set up on either side of an “All Welcome” sign outside the meetinghouse.
Quaker thought and tradition has a rich array of practitioners and a deeply developed philosophy of social justice that fully embraces equality and nonviolence. In his 1915 article in The Survey, “The Quaker Peace Position,” Rufus Jones summed it up succinctly: “And whether in times of war or times of peace, the Quaker is under peculiar obligation to assist and to forward movements and forces which make for peace in the world and which bind men together in ties of unity and fellowship.”
In the 1960s, Kenneth E. Boulding, an influential Quaker thinker, author, and economist, was an early proponent of the “Spaceship Earth” concept, which encourages all of us to recognize our interconnectedness. He integrated and strongly recommended sustainability and caring for all members of society. For Boulding, moral considerations were essential to the well-being of our economies, to foster unity and cooperation rather than competition and war.
Over 160 years ago, during a period deeply entrenched with the evils of slavery, Lucretia Mott provided us with an exceptional Quaker model of strength, courage, and nonviolence that can also address the current injustice. As reported in the November 3, 1860 edition of National Anti-Slavery Standard, while attending a meeting of the Pennsylvania Anti-Slavery Society, Mott stated, “I have no idea, because I am a Non-Resistant, of submitting tamely to injustice inflicted either on me or on the slave. I will oppose it with all the moral powers with which I am endowed. I am no advocate of passivity. Quakerism, as I understand it, does not mean quietism.”
The author hand painted this banner after prompting an AI tool to create alternative acronyms for ICE. The image depicts ICE agents arresting Our Lady of Guadalupe.
Since the January murders of Renée Good and Alex Pretti by ICE agents in Minneapolis, Minn., and the refusal by the Department of Justice to investigate these incidents properly, tension and violence has increased. The good folks of Minneapolis have resisted strongly and for the most part nonviolently. Yet more violence seems very close, and I hear the ghost of George Orwell quietly whispering, “The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command.” Sadly in 2026, we are living in 1984.
Albany Meeting hopes other Quaker meetings are inspired to creatively and publicly witness against government abuses that when exposed will illuminate truth and justice in this dark night of our country’s soul. It is no time for passivity. It is time for all of us to clearly discern what our values truly are; to take bold steps to publicly witness; to heal and restore our communities; and to remember the wisdom and strength of our elders who gave us a profound legacy of truth, justice, courage, and love.
is a longtime attender of Albany (N.Y.) Meeting. He is an editor and contributing author to Bending the Arc: Striving for Peace and Justice in the Age of Endless War (SUNY Press, 2020). Amidon is a Marine veteran and a lifetime member of Veterans For Peace.
