PRINCETON, N.J. (AP) — A bunch of Quakers are marching greater than 300 miles from New York Metropolis to Washington, D.C., to show in opposition to the Trump administration’s crackdown on immigrants.
The march extends a protracted custom of Quaker activism. Traditionally, Quakers have been concerned in peaceable protests to finish wars and slavery, and help girls’s voting rights in keeping with their dedication to justice and peace. Way more just lately, Quakers sued the federal authorities earlier this yr over immigration brokers’ potential to make arrests at homes of worship.
Organizers of the march say their protest seeks to point out solidarity with migrants and different teams which might be being focused by President Donald Trump’s administration.
“It feels really daunting to be up against such critical and large and in some ways existential threats,” mentioned Jess Hobbs Pifer, a 25-year-old Quaker and march organizer, who mentioned she felt “a connection” to the religion’s lengthy historical past of activism.
“I just have to put one foot in front of the other to move towards something better, something more true to what Quakers before us saw for this country and what people saw for the American Experiment, the American dream,” she mentioned.
Their aim is to stroll south from the Flushing Quaker Assembly Home — throughout New York, New Jersey, Maryland and Pennsylvania — to the U.S. Capitol to ship a replica of the “Flushing Remonstrance” — a seventeenth century doc that referred to as for non secular freedom and opposed a ban on Quaker worship.
Quakers say it stays related in 2025 as a reminder to “uphold the guiding principle that all are welcome.”
“We really saw a common thread between the ways that the administration is sort of flying against the norms and ideals of constitutional law and equality before the law,” mentioned Max Goodman, 28, a Quaker, who joined the march.
“Even when they aren’t breaking rules explicitly, they’re really engaging in bad faith with the spirit of pluralism, tolerance and respect for human dignity that undergirds our founding documents as Americans and also shows up in this document that’s really important in New York Quaker history.”
A Quaker historical past of resistance
The Non secular Society of Associates — greatest often called the Quakers — originated in seventeenth century England.
The Christian group was based by George Fox, an Englishman who objected to Anglican emphasis on ceremony. Within the 1640s, he mentioned he heard a voice that led him to develop a private relationship with Christ, described because the Inside Gentle.
Fox taught that the Inside Gentle emancipates an individual from adherence to any creed, ecclesiastical authority or ritual varieties.
Dropped at courtroom for opposing the established church, Fox tangled with a decide who derided him as a “quaker” in reference to his agitation over non secular issues.
Additionally they joined protests in opposition to the World Commerce Group in Seattle and the Black Lives Matter protests after the 2020 killing of George Floyd.
“Within the DNA of Quakerism is actions speaking out against authority,” mentioned Brubeck, who was marching alongside a path in New Jersey with companions waving an upside-down American flag — supposed to function a sign of misery.
“Quakers have had a central role in opposition to repression within the United States since its founding,” Brubeck mentioned.
The fundamental unit of Quaker group is the weekly assembly, which corresponds to the congregation in different church buildings. Quakers collect for silent worship in assembly homes, the place they look ahead to a message from God to maneuver by means of them till they converse.
When Brubeck and his group reached downtown Princeton, they had been met by members of the native Quaker group, who praised them for his or her effort and guided them to their assembly home. After taking their footwear off their blistery ft, some rested on picket pews and later prayed in silence, holding arms in a circle in preparation for one more lengthy stroll.
“I felt humbled by their presence knowing what a long way they’ve been walking,” mentioned Casey Oware, a member of the Princeton Associates Assembly. “And also a sense of connection knowing that we’re fighting for the same thing.”
Her good friend, Marae McGhee, a retired instructor and member of the native Quaker group, agreed: “It’s such a disturbing time and I think a lot of people feel that there’s little they can do. But these folks are doing it — they’re giving their feet and their energy.”
Quaker beliefs and a lawsuit problem to Trump
Quaker practices and beliefs differ from a extra Bible-centered Christianity, with pastors as worship leaders, to a extra liberal method with much less structured worship and a variety of teachings.
One essentially the most well-known Quakers was William Penn, who based Pennsylvania following the religion’s emphasis on non secular tolerance; the group grew to become influential in cities like Philadelphia.
However members of the group have additionally confronted scorn for refusing to affix wars because of their perception in pacifism and nonviolence. Some had been persecuted and even killed for making an attempt to unfold their non secular beliefs.
Earlier this yr, 5 Quaker congregations filed a lawsuit difficult a Trump administration transfer giving immigration brokers extra leeway to make arrests at homes of worship.
In the course of the presidential marketing campaign, Donald Trump insisted that immigrants had been an existential menace to America. Immigration into the U.S., each authorized and unlawful, surged throughout President Joe Biden’s administration, and Trump assailed that inflow in ways in which proved highly effective with voters.
Since returning to the White Home, Trump has launched a marketing campaign of immigration enforcement that has pushed the boundaries of govt energy and clashed with federal judges making an attempt to restrain him.
“Immigrants are the ones experiencing the most acute persecution in the United States,” Brubeck mentioned. “The message to Trump is that the power is not his to make.”
