Earlier this week, on 8/18, Roxroy Salmon was scheduled to turn himself in to Immigration and Customs Enforcement at 26 Federal Plaza. Members of First Presbyterian Church in the City of New York, Families for Freedom, and the NY New Sanctuary Coalition stood in vigil outside the federal building. We did not see Roxroy enter the building and can only assume that he made the deeply personal decision to not show up. Even in the face of this, our work in the movement for immigrant justice in the United States forges ahead. Over the past two years Roxroy's Defense Committee built a campaign to try and help keep his family together by working to stop his deportation. Our efforts included gathering petition signatures, holding vigils, writing letters and garnering the support of many clergy and community leaders. As we held vigil again on 8/19 to reflect and heal, we reaffirmed our guiding principles that dividing families is immoral and unjust and we will continue onwards in the fight for immigrant rights.
—First Presbyterian Church in the City of New York, Families for Freedom, and the NY New Sanctuary Coalition