Quakers march against Trump's crackdown on immigrants carrying on their long faith tradition

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: AP

Updated 1:43 PM EDT, May 10, 2025


PRINCETON, N.J. (AP) — A group of Quakers are marching more than 300 miles from New York City to Washington, D.C., to demonstrate against the Trump administration’s crackdown on immigrants.

The march extends a long tradition of Quaker activism. Historically, Quakers have been involved in peaceful protests to end wars and slavery, and support women’s voting rights in line with their commitment to justice and peace. Far more recently, Quakers sued the federal government earlier this year over immigration agents’ ability to make arrests at houses of worship.

Organizers of the march say their protest seeks to show solidarity with migrants and other groups that are being targeted by President Donald Trump’s administration.

“It feels really daunting to be up against such critical and large and in some ways existential threats,” said Jess Hobbs Pifer, a 25-year-old Quaker and march organizer, who said she felt “a connection” to the faith’s long history of activism.

Read more: https://apnews.com/article/quakers-protest-march-trump-immigration-crackdown-af1ae4a3a608e59f97c96c8b7cf660a2

[FadedMullet]

1. Good for them. Making quite a statement. I don't imagine that Trump got much of the Quaker vote.

[Ms. Toad]

7. You would be surprised.

There are four branches of Quakers in the US. Unfortunately, the Evangelical is the largest and is largely unrecognizable as Quaker. I would not be surprised if a substantial number of them voted for Trump. FGC and Conservative (the two smallest in the US - but closest to what people recognize as Quaker) - very few are likely to have voted for Trump. FUM is likely to be a mixed bag.

[flamingdem]

2. I remember the Quakers took in draft resistors in the 60s

Wonderful history and consistency. Also, the Friends Service Committee.

[JoseBalow]

3. Nixon was a Quaker

[BigmanPigman]

4. It boggles the mind!

[Evolve Dammit]

5. I did not know that. Thanks

[soldierant]

6. He was. Although

in hindsight I'd be inclined to call him a QINO.

MLK was inclined to trust him for the reason he was a Quaker - it's in one of his letters. And that was back in the day when honorable Republicans still existed, so one really can't blame him for that misjudgment

[Ms. Toad]

8. He was an evangelical Quaker,

And never attended a meeting for worship when he was in Washington. Evangelical Quakers are barely recognizable as Quakers - for the most part, they look just like any independent/non-denominational Christian church.

[quakerboy]

9. Hey now.

Sometimes the instances of time between between people speaking in evangelical services actually last over 60 seconds. Surely that makes them distinctively Quaker, no?

[Ms. Toad]

10. I have experienced that in some FUM churches,

But not in any Evangelical churches.

(I grew up in an FUM church, which was nudged by my FGC parents to have as long as 10 minutes of open worship, then i spent my adult life in FGC and Conservative meetings. But I have visited a number Evangelical churches, and worked with a few individual evangelicals in FCNL (AFSC was to far out for them, so didn't encounter any in the would there.)

[quakerboy]

11. Ive seen it go both ways

I find that conservatives, being conservatives have a tendency to latch onto whatever part of "how it used to be/is supposed to be" that they find convenient. In quakerdom, some latch onto "silent" worship. And dare you speak amidst the silence, woe be unto you.

[Ms. Toad]

12. Given the structure, it is an interesting balance

Between being a district faith community (rather than just a group of people who have similar social justice beliefs) and being a living community responsible to the leading of a living God. I had to leave meeting closest to me when it worked so hard to please anyone who showed up at the door that it lost any sense of shared spiritual beliefs.