Goshen College students and community members gathered Saturday at the local Target to protest the corporation’s support of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. 

About 125 people assembled, expecting a hymn sing inside the store. However, they were forced to leave the store before the formal demonstration could begin. Undeterred, the group moved outside to sing hymns and chant, holding signs reading “Love melts ICE” and “Jesus was an immigrant.”

This protest was organized by Mennonite Action Michiana, as a part of the national Mennonite Action campaign to “Sing The Doors Down.” This organization is an Anabaptist movement committed to active peacemaking. While they started as a movement against the occupation in Palestine, they are broadening their focus towards the upheaval caused by ICE. According to a press release from Mennonite Action Michiana, the protests last weekend were a call for Target to “end its complicity with ICE” and to express support for immigrants.

Julia Gautsche, one of the organizers of the protest in Goshen, said that the protests gave them “an opportunity to change the local and national conversation around immigration,” as well as communicating “solidarity with our immigrant neighbors and with the people of Minneapolis and Minnesota.” Gautsche also mentioned the choice to hold a hymn sing, rather than a different type of protest. “Hymns are a way of getting our message out without being loud and confrontational. It demonstrates a peacefulness. And, singing is an important part of our Christian Mennonite tradition … we knew the hymns would be familiar and would build solidarity and courage among the singers,” she said.

Dahlia Thut, a first-year sustainability major and member of the Peace and Justice Collective, agreed with Gautsche on the power of music in protests. “Music and love are the most powerful forces … people aren’t used to hearing protesters singing in this way. It definitely catches people’s attention,” she said. Thut connected it to her identity as a Mennonite. “It’s different than what people expect, and it’s very aligned with our faith … music and love are the most powerful forces,” she said.

Thut also commented on the variety of people who attended the protest this weekend. “It’s really important as students to show our faces, as a younger generation. You see here, there are little kids here, there are people with their babies, there’s older folks … people of all ages can show up and be a part of a movement like this,” Thut said.

Sawyer Landes Biddle ’18 would agree with this sentiment. He attended the protest at Target, along with his toddler-age daughter. “There’s no question for my wife and I about bringing our 3-year-old to peaceful protests,” he said. “She won’t understand abuse of executive power or immigration law for a few more years but she knows about being a good neighbor and a good friend. That’s what we try to show her every day and singing hymns to resist ICE terror is a perfect way for her to get involved and make her voice heard.”

Landes Biddle said there are several reasons it is important to show up to such protests. According to him, it is important to build connections with others interested in justice on a national and international level, so that they might be interested in local-level demonstrations as well. He also noted how important showing support for the leader’s demands for Target. “In a capitalist society, one of the most effective options we have is leveraging our roles as consumers. Corporations are powerful but they depend on the people who shop there for their power,” Landes Biddle said.

This weekend wasn’t the first time GC students took a stand against the actions of ICE. On Jan. 30, students, faculty and staff gathered in Schrock Plaza for their own protest with handmade signs, wearing winter coats, standing in the snow and ready to protest. This on-campus protest featured members of Voces Fuertes, Latino Student Union and PJC. They led chants, hymns, prayer, as well as leaving time for students to share their own messages.

There are still upcoming opportunities for students to add their voices to this movement. On Feb. 17, the Goshen City Democratic Party will hold a gathering at the Goshen Theater. They will share information about ICE activity in Elkhart County, as well as what locals can do to help immigrants. Speakers at this event will include GC students and a pastor from College Mennonite Church, as well as immigration attorneys and others who have made helping immigrants their life’s work. 

Rose Snyder, a first-year communication major and member of PJC, summed up the spirit of these protests. “You’re standing up with love instead of hate. I think this is so much more powerful than just standing outside and yelling at everyone … that’s not going to make a change. It’s important to show that love overcomes,” she said. “It’s really important to reclaim and just sort of paint a new image of what protest can look like; how they can be peaceful, and they can be full of love instead of hate and destruction.”