"some of the city's newest residents lined up outside of immigration court with bated breath as they prepared to face their legally mandated hearings with a judge with the constant threat of masked ICE agents stalking the halls. But on Ash Wednesday, before heading into court, many went to Arias to receive the sign of the cross on their forehead the symbol worn by millions of Christians on the first day of the season of Lent, a time for spiritual reflection and renewal."
"Arias, who oversees worship at Saint Peter's Church in Midtown, knows all too well the adversity that those seeking the American Dream face when they enter the walls of the federal building. He was on hand throughout 2025 when ICE agents tore fathers away from their children, pushed a young mother to the ground as she begged for mercy, and then watched as a photojournalist was hospitalized due to an officer's violent outburst."
Father Fabian Arias stood on a rain-slicked street outside 26 Federal Plaza on Ash Wednesday in white vestments, placing ashes on the foreheads of immigrants before court. Many lined up nervously ahead of legally mandated immigration hearings while facing the threat of masked ICE agents in the halls. Arias offered the sign of the cross as a symbol of Lent, urging hope, meditation, conversion and change. Even infants received blessings. Arias oversees worship at Saint Peter's Church in Midtown and has witnessed violent ICE actions in 2025, including family separations, a mother shoved to the ground, and a photojournalist hospitalized.
Read at www.amny.com
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