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An interfaith vigil Thursday marked the nation’s 250th anniversary with demands for an end to raids by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Dozens of people filled the pews at historic Christ Church in Old City, Philadelphia, singing and listening to speakers condemn President Donald Trump’s immigration enforcement crackdown.

“Two hundred and fifty years ago, leaders chose to stand and proclaim liberty, albeit they offered that to some and not others, but those words and that promise still ring out,” Rev. Alisa Wailoo, senior minister at First United Methodist Church of Germantown, told WHYY News. “We are here to reclaim that today, and one of the most heinous grievances of liberty in our nation currently is the actions of ICE at the behest of our administration.”

Wailoo organized the event along with other members of the interfaith clergy coalition that holds regular protests outside of the Philadelphia ICE Field Office at Eighth and Cherry streets on Monday mornings.

State Sen. Art Haywood, D-Philadelphia, also a member of the coalition, said the nation has “come a long way” since the Declaration of Independence was signed, but he hopes people will think about how the country can come closer to fulfilling its founding ideals in the next 250 years.

“I got a lot of hope for the nation,” he said. “I think we are in a difficult time. We are in a struggle with those who are focusing on exclusion as opposed to inclusion, but all the neighbors, the people I talk to, they recognize we already have a diverse nation, so that’s done. And we want to have more inclusion where everybody’s recognized and can participate.”

Vigil draws attention to ICE detainee deaths

Following a series of speeches and songs, organizers read out the names of more than 50 people who have died in ICE custody or have been killed by federal immigration enforcement agents in the past year and a half. After each name, they rang the bell in the courtyard of Christ Church — one that sounded on July 4, 1776, in tandem with the Liberty Bell.

“That bell should be ringing for liberty and not tolling people’s deaths,” Wailoo said.

As immigration arrests across the region and country have surged, so have deaths of people in ICE custody. In 2025, 33 people died while in ICE custody, making it the agency’s deadliest year since it was created in 2003.

Twenty people have already died in ICE custody this year, on track to outpace last year’s total. The agency recently changed its ICE detainee death reporting policy, saying it will no longer report the deaths of people recently released from its custody — a move that watchdog and advocacy groups say will reduce accountability.

U.S. Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon, D-Delaware County, told WHYY News at Thursday’s vigil that she and her colleagues in Congress have successfully sued to enforce their right to inspect immigrant detention centers after she was denied entry to Moshannon Valley Processing Center last summer.

“There have been concerns about detention centers for a long time. I’ve been involved in efforts to inspect them and make sure that people’s human and physical and civil rights are being observed, but it’s never been like it has been now,” she said. “And some of that is the sheer scale of what this administration is trying to do, some of it is the fact that they are relying upon for-profit prison companies to run these places.”

Anh Vongbandith said her husband, Anou Vongbandith, faced numerous health issues when detained by ICE for several months last summer, and was for a time without access to important heart medication.

“He was getting sick every day, he lost his color, he was very frail,” Anh Vongbandith said.

Germantown residents rallied around the couple, who own a restaurant in the neighborhood, and pushed for his release.

Faith leaders bring ‘moral clarity,’ Scanlon says

Scanlon said that Thursday’s vigil was a “reaffirmation” of the country’s founding principles.

“It’s an amazing group of faith leaders who I think are bringing a lot of moral clarity at this time when we see the federal government sowing chaos and division for political purposes in ways that really hurt our communities and hurt our economy and hurt individuals,” she said.

A small group of people ended the event by marching from Christ Church to the Philadelphia ICE Field Office at Eighth and Cherry streets.

Sharon Levy, 71, a Mt. Airy resident, said she regularly attends the Monday vigils and came out Thursday to advocate for immigrant rights.

“We’re here to proclaim liberty in the land, and we can’t do that unless we embrace liberty for everyone, and that’s part of today’s vigil and message,” she said. “And it’s another way to celebrate this holiday by celebrating all the inhabitants of the land, including the immigrants.”

For Sally Heimann, 67, also a Mt. Airy resident, her reason for attending the event was “personal.”

“I have a friend who is an immigrant,” she said. “I don’t want to get into the specifics, but knowing her for the last eight years has made this all feel very personal to me, and I fear for her safety every day, and I’m out here for her, and for all of the people who are just looking for a better life.”