Fairlington Presbyterian Church has created a memorial on its front lawn to remember people who have died in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody since 2025.
The church, located at 3846 King Street in the West End, dedicated the memorial Sunday (May 10). The memorial features posts representing each of 32 people who died in ICE custody from January 2025 to early January 2026. Another 18 names of people who died in ICE custody leading up to May 2026 are included in a brochure being distributed at the memorial. Some official causes of death are pending or disputed.
Gary Hughes, one of the governing elders at Fairlington Presbyterian Church, told ALXnow the memorial responds to a rapid increase in ICE custody deaths between 2024 and 2025.
“For a long time, faith communities — churches, temples, mosques, synagogues — have been places to initiate conversations about moral issues,” Hughes said. “We’re following along in that tradition in terms of trying to bring attention to this moral issue, not so much for us to try to give the community answers but to help create a community dialogue to find answers.”
Pastor Juli Wilson-Black told ALXnow that the policy restricting immigration enforcement in churches also changed last year.
“The church has always been a place where immigrants have felt welcome, and until last year, we were a place where immigration enforcement could not happen because we were considered a sanctuary location,” Wilson-Black said. “Now that has changed, and we have to put signs around our building indicating places that are considered private and excluded from enforcement activity, but otherwise there’s no sense that those spaces will be respected, and so it’s become very personal for us.”
The church also has immigrant congregation members and ties with local organizations serving immigrants that have felt the impact of ICE enforcement. Wilson-Black said more people have been seeking emergency assistance from Christ Church’s West End Lazarus Ministry, which is hosted in Fairlington Presbyterian Church’s building.
“Their breadwinners have been deported, or they no longer feel safe going to work, or they’ve lost their employment,” Wilson-Black said. “We’ve seen how the need has increased, the demands on our local service providers like Lazarus Ministry, like ALIVE! and we’ve also heard the stories from Casa Chirilagua, which works with immigrant families, about how many of their families have been impacted and are struggling both with the trauma of and the fear of being deported, but also with the economic fallout from that.”
Hughes said the memorial features posts of different sizes to symbolize the individuality of each person who died. The posts are arranged in a circle and joined by a chain to represent connectedness.
“I think that’s what takes it from an exhibit to a memorial, and honoring each person, allowing us to grieve for and with their families to mourn that individual’s death,” Hughes said. “It’s not just a group of people — these are individuals — and so I think that that makes it, for me, at least a whole lot more powerful.”
During the memorial dedication, congregation members each took a name and wrote it on each post. They then prayed for the people outside and during the church service.
A sign at the memorial references the Bible’s 25th chapter of Matthew, which informs the church’s values.
“In the Presbyterian Church USA, there is a movement called Matthew 25 and we have chosen to be a Matthew 25 congregation, which means that we have made a commitment to treating our neighbor as we would treat Jesus Christ in our midst,” Wilson-Black said.
Along with the memorial, the church has also donated Thanksgiving meals to Casa Chirilagua to help immigrant families. Church leaders say other ways for the community to support immigrants include donating to or volunteering with Casa Chirilagua, Christ Church’s Lazarus Ministry or the Dream Project.
Hughes encourages residents to visit the memorial, which includes a bench for reflection. The memorial is expected to remain open for about a month. Parking is available at the church.
Images via Fairlington Presbyterian Chruch/Facebook
