Cites Church on January 22, 2026 in St. Paul, Minnesota. (Photo by Stephen Maturen/Getty Images)
In Minneapolis, where another pastor had a gun pointed at him by federal agents, church grounds have been targeted since ICE and CBP invaded the city. Evangelical pastor Doug Pagitt of Vote Common Good helped me get a sense for how deeply local churches have been affected by immigration enforcement actions in the city.
“A week ago, eight to ten churches asked for clergy to come and provide support to create a protective band so people could come to church, because dark-skinned people are afraid to come to church,” he told me, noting that churches that used to have 300 to 800 people on Sundays now routinely see small groups of just 50 to 75 people.
Pagitt shared with me his own view of the situation involving Lemon and the church protesters the administration had condemned.
“The idea that they want to protect people’s freedom to worship and yet sit outside and specifically target their churches in the sixty days since they’ve been here goes against their argument,” he said.