Rowan DuBois | staff writer

On Friday morning in the freezing cold, Sister Barabara Finch of the Sisters of St. Joseph did what she’s done every week since August. She got up and made her way to the South Side Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility to pray – not only for the undocumented immigrants being held inside the facility, but for the ICE agents as well.

“We are all human beings,” Finch said. “We can disagree with what [ICE is] doing, but they are still our sisters and brothers. Our hope is that maybe they will find other work.”

Finch is a Duquesne alumna and one of the organizers of the vigil, which occurs weekly. The vigil is put on by the Sisters of St. Joseph, Pax Christi and Casa San Jose.

“We’ve been in the heat, we’ve been in the rain, we’ve been in the snow, we’ve been in the cold,” she said.

“We sincerely believe that if there is an injustice as severe and violent as this is to our sisters and brothers, we can’t just stay in our houses and say nothing and do nothing.”

With media coverage of ICE increasing due to the shooting of Renee Nicole Good in Minneapolis, so has the turnout to the vigil, Finch said. She sees the weekly event as another outlet for people to express their frustration.

“It’s not being resolved, and it is getting worse,” Finch said. “I think people are continuing to come because we have to keep pushing back. They are literally shooting people and killing people. We can’t let that happen.”

The vigil commenced with live music. Standing just feet away from the facility, those gathered sang the lyrics to the popular protest anthems like “We Shall Not Be Moved,” and Christian hymns like “Santa Maria del Camino.”

“We will build up bridges and tear down the walls.” The crowd sang the lyrics to “We Are One In The Spirit.

“Where we all will be neighbors, and pick up those who fall.”

Others in attendance passed out cookies and held out signs toward passing cars.

Andrew Bechman, who has been coming to the vigils since they started, wore a verse from the Gospel of Matthew around his neck which read “I was a stranger, too, and you welcomed me.”

Bechman has attended protests against ICE before, including the march in Pittsburgh on Jan. 11, but he believes that the vigil provides him with a more personal feeling than traditional demonstrations.

“The vigil touches my faith more deeply,” Bechman said. “We are just trying to be faithful, to witness and to pray. We are in this crazy situation, and it’s happening in our country. We all just want to do something.”

Bechman also finds value in praying for all of those who are inside the facility.

“We are all human beings,” Bechman said. “We are all caught in these different situations, and we’re just trying to make the best of things that we can.”

Another one of the regular attendees was Therese Kisic, who stood across the street from the majority of protestors.

She danced to the music and held a sign which read “Love one another” to the cars that drove through.

Passerby had different reactions, with some showing support, and others flashing obscene gestures at attendees.

“The vigil is special,” Kisic said. “The vigil is different from a protest. It is about standing up for God’s people, and not vilifying anybody.”

The facility itself was quiet. Nobody came in or out of the building during the vigil.

After the music, volunteer speakers took the microphone to address the crowd. With Martin Luther King Jr. Day on the protestors’ horizon, many chose to cite the late civil rights advocate.

One speaker referenced King’s 1959 sermon “Shattered Dreams,” saying “We must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope.”

Although the circumstances for the gathering weren’t what Finch would’ve wished for, she has enjoyed seeing social movements like the vigil grow and multiply in Pittsburgh.

“It’s unfortunate that a crisis like this had to bring us together,” Finch said, “But it has. It has been a grace and an opportunity for us to become a whole community in Pittsburgh.”

Rowan DuBois can be reached at duboisr1@duq.edu